


Only A Little Crazy

by Fire_Remorros



Series: Craziness [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-22
Updated: 2013-06-22
Packaged: 2017-12-15 18:52:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 34,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/852878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Remorros/pseuds/Fire_Remorros
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the first year of the exchange students, and your family is hosting a British teenager named Arthur! Along with all the other exchange students, hilarity ensues, as well as a budding romance. In a sense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

You slowly, dragging your feet as much as you could, walked down the school hallway. You were going to make up a quiz you had missed earlier that week, and were certainly not looking forward to it.

            You stopped outside the chemistry classroom, closing your (e/c) eyes for a moment with a heavy sigh, interrupted by a ragged cough. You shook your head rapidly. You still weren’t quite over your cold yet. You cleared your throat before you went in to (hopefully) prevent future coughing for a little while, and reached out to the door, pulling it open.

            You stepped in quietly. There was another class in there already. “Dammit,” You whispered softly to yourself. You hated awkwardly walking into another class. Come to think of it, you hated walking late in to your own class. You really just preferred to not attract attention.

            You walked over to the teacher’s desk. “Um, Mrs. O’Reilly?” You whispered, louder. “Uh, I came to-“

            “Oh, _________...did I tell you to come in this period?” She looked over at her student, looking slightly upset. Her current class was taking a test, and they were watching you curiously.

            You shifted your feet awkwardly. “Um. Yeah, you told me to yesterday….” Though you was moving around in a way that suggested your discomfort, your eyes remained fixed on your teacher anxiously. This class wasn’t your best, and you wanted to get this quiz done so your grades would go up.

            Mrs. O’Reilly sighed. “Alright, hang on…” She moved about behind her desk, gathering the reference table and actual quiz.

            “Er, excuse me…” Another voice interrupted the silence very gently. It was a British voice. Wait, British?

            You turned around, face carefully just passively curious. It was a boy of average height, with shaggy blond hair and green eyes that peered out from under massive eyebrows. He was dressed…well, you had to chuckle at his taste in clothes. He was wearing a sweater vest and a button down shirt. He honest-to-God LOOKED British, like he should be at hope reading the paper and sipping tea and munching on scones.

            Not wanting to be caught in the awkward position of inspecting him, as well as knowing how that made people feel, you turned back to the teacher.

            “Oh, you’re the exchange student, right? You just got here today?” Mrs. O’Reilly paused in her search to question him.

            “That’s right. I’m Arthur Kirkland.” He glanced at his feet, “Um, I heard that there was a recent quiz, and I was wondering if-“

            “You want to take it too?” She sighed. “Let me see if I have another reference table…_______, do you have yours?”

            “Yeah, it’s right here….” You pulled out your folder and took out the table waving it. Your usual quiet school personality was rapidly starting to fade again and a grin crossed your face.

            “Okay, good. Can you go to Mrs. Dolan’s room for the quiz? Oh, and take Arthur with you. No cheating.” Mrs. O’Reilly ordered.

            “Gotcha!” You said cheerfully, taking your quiz and leading the way out. As you walked out, you started humming various theme songs from your favorite T.V. shows. However, you only really watched a couple shows, so it was limited. As you switched from the Thirty Rock theme song to Doctor Who, you noticed out of the corner of your eye Arthur twitch.

            “What? You like Doctor Who?” You whirled around to face him, walking backwards and grinning.

            “Erm…no…” He refused to meet your eyes.

            “Li-arr,” You sang in response, for some reason getting seriously amused.

            His head shot up. “Excuse me?” He demanded.

            “Ah, the Brit speaks! I said you’re a liar. Why on Earth would you be ashamed of watching Doctor Who, though, I wonder?” You questioned out loud.

            “I just don’t know many guys who actually watch Doctor Who.” He muttered, looking away again.

            “So? You watch an awesome show that most guys aren’t awesome or smart enough to enjoy.” You replied, opening the door to the quiz room. “Any other self-esteem problems, Mr. Kirkland?”

            He was watching you, his mouth partially open in shock, before he closed it again with a smirk. “Does that make me awesome?”

            “Are you questioning the ‘smart’ part?”

            “Oh, I am very much aware of my intelligence.” He chuckled. “I’ll prove it by beating you on this quiz.”

            “Well, that won’t be hard. I suck at chem. Although…” You looked at your quiz again and another grin spread across your face. “This stuff is ridiculously easy. Alright, it’s on for the next one. And then I will kick your ass in U.S. history.”

            “Hang on, that’s your home country!” He protested.

            “Not true! I was born in Canada! I’ve just lived here for the vast majority of my life!” You retorted.

            “Still not fair,” He muttered.

            “Oh, we’ll see, Mr. Kirkland. We’ll see.”

            “How long are you going to call me Mr. Kirkland, luv?”

            You raised your eyebrow at the use of the term ‘luv’ before replying. “Until the novelty of you being British has worn off. And with that, let me do my quiz, good sir.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Excuse my Spanish here- I'm aware that it's wrong. My Spanish is not very good ^^;

The class you were supposed to have while you were taking your quiz was study hall, so you were anxious to get back so you could finish your homework in whatever time you had left. So you finished your quiz quickly and ditched Arthur, who raised one bushy eyebrow at you and bid you “cheerio”.

            You dropped off your quiz and hurried to the library, where you could finish your homework, hopefully quickly. As you started editing your Spanish homework, you heard someone come up behind you.

            “You know, you need an accent mark there.” Arthur commented, pulling up a chair to watch you curiously.

            “Well, look who’s gotten over his awkwardness,” You drawled irritably. Your mood had reverted back to being agitated.

            He smirked at your half-second glare. “Tsk tsk, luv. Procrastinating?”

            “That’s what I do best! Partially because for some reason, panic seems to be my best tool of study, and partially because I have tons of other stuff to do.” You explained, typing away.

            “Or because you sit at home on the computer and get distracted till ten o’clock?” He questioned.

            You glared at him again. “Shut up, git, you’re distracting me.”

            He frowned, and went back to watching your homework intently. At least, that’s what you thought, anyway. He was also trying to figure you out. One minute you were shy, the next insane, and now irritable. That sounded remarkably like…oh. Awkward. It sounded like himself.

            “Why are you following me, Mr. Kirkland?” You asked with a sigh as you typed. You were shifting around uncomfortably under his harsh gaze.

            “Partially because I don’t care for my study hall class, and partially because I have nothing better to do.” He replied, mimicking your exact tone.

            “Smart aleck.”

            “Takes one to know one.”

            The silence took over, only now it was more of a companionable silence rather than the awkward one from before.

            “And…done!” You stood up after pressing the print button.

            “And not a moment too soon, luv,” Arthur commented as the bell rang. “I’m leaving. See you around…ah…it was_______, right?”

            “Good job, Mr. Kirkland! You remembered!” You flashed a grin at him, your good mood returning now that you weren’t doing homework. “Au revoir, mon ami!*”

            He bristled at your use of French for a second, then tried to settle himself down, but you caught his reaction, smirking. “Fantastic. A new weapon. Later!” You wound up leaving before him, taking your papers out of the printer. However, you had to go to your locker, so you wound up about ten seconds late for class.

            “________.....” Your teacher, Mrs. Hernyak, sighed. “Tu estas tarde.**”

            “Lo siento! Yo tengo que ir a mi locquer!***” You apologized rapidly, and went to go to your seat…

            ….only to find Arthur sitting in it. For a moment, you just stared at him. After an agonizingly long few seconds, he looked up peacefully and smiled. “Well, hello, luv. How can I help you?”

            “Possibly by finding your own seat…” You muttered.

            “Pardon?” He asked innocently, his accent drawing murmurs from the girls in the classroom.

            “Do you think it’s possible for you to, I don’t know, shift over to the empty seat? As this one happens to be mine?” You questioned with a heavily sarcastic tone.

            “Oh!” He stood up rapidly, for some reason, losing his cynical edge and looking embarrassed. “Terribly sorry, luv, I didn’t-“

            “Cerras tu boca, Senor Kirkland,****” You replied, rolling your eyes. It’s just one seat over.”

            “Ah, but it was ungentlemanly of me to-“

            Senora Hernyak cleared her throat. “________, Arthur, por favor sientense…(*x5)”

            You both quickly sat down in your designated seats, and the girl behind Arthur started talking to him. You rolled your eyes. The whole school was filled with sluts and stupid people, and poor Mr. Kirkland the potentially smart guy would probably be sucked in.

            Since it was Friday, as usual, your teacher put in a Spanish horror movie, as she felt it was a good study tool to be able to swear and scream about monsters in Spanish. As you watched the movie, you noticed Arthur, out of the corner of your eye, fidgeting and looking like he was concentrating rather hard on the movie.

            “Hey, how much Spanish do you actually speak?” You passed him a little piece of paper with that written on it.

            He looked at it, turning red. “Not that much,” He scribbled in reply. “I only took one year of Spanish. I took French the rest of the time.”

            “I wondered. You’re pulling very amusing faces, Mr. Kirkland.~ xD” You wrote in reply, chuckling as his blush intensified.

            He crumpled up the note and shoved it in his pocket, scowling. You reverted your attention to the movie. Anything that wasn’t math or science was your strong point, so you understood the vast majority of the movie, picking up a few choice swear words in the process.

            The bell rang, and before Arthur could even open his mouth to make a cynical retort, you slung your messenger backpack over your shoulder and dashed out the door to meet your friends.

            Now, you and your friends all had lockers in the same wing, so what you usually wound up doing was walking up the hallway until you ran into one of them, and then you just followed them.

            “HEY. PIPER.” You called out, hurrying to meet your friend. Piper was a small, Ecuadorian-Irish girl who had been your best friend since the summer after you moved here in third grade.

            “NEH GO AWAY.” She replied immediately, flailing her arms, but not running. You caught up to her, grinning.

            “Hey guess whaat.”

            “What do you want?!”

            “Someone from your favorite country started going to this school!” You replied, waiting for her to catch on to the sarcasm.

            “________, we’re all Americans except you, you fucking Canadian.” She replied, rolling her eyes.

            “…wow. Way to catch the sarcasm, Piper.” You rolled your eyes back at her.

            It took a few moments for it to set in, but then her eyes widened. “AW FUCK THE BRITISH HAVE INVADED?!”

            “Who’s invading?” Someone demanded, and you grinned, spinning around.

            “Dakota! We have a British invader!”

            “Wait, isn’t your country a commonwealth of England?” Piper questioned.

            “I think it’s time I started to establish that I lived in Canada for approximately two weeks.” You muttered, shaking your head.

            “You still have dual citizenship!”

            “Yes! So if this country goes to ruin, I can escape! Muahahaha!” You laughed.

            Dakota snorted. “So, is this British invader blonde with green eyes and big eyebrows?” She brushed a strand of dark hair out of her face.

            “Eh? Um…yeah…why?” You asked, tipping your head.

            She twirled her finger, indicating that you should be turning around.

            “Hello, luv. Didn’t realize you liked me that much.” A now-familiar British voice said. You were betting he was smirking by his smug tone.

            “No, I was warning my England-hating friend so we can play some horrible prank on you.” You replied, not turning around.

            “Why do you have caterpillars on your face, limey?” Piper demanded.

           You could almost feel the anger coming off him in waves. “Fantastic,” You snorted. “You call him Caterpillar-Brows. I’ll keep calling him Mr. Kirkland.”

            “Wait, are you serious about pulling a prank on him? After all, don’t you-“ Dakota stared, puzzled, before you shushed her.

            “That doesn’t apply to him. Just the country.” You said curtly. There was no way in hell you were going to let Arthur know about your fascination with England. “Now, before the buses all leave…” You dragged your friends after you.

            “Lemme go! LEMME GO!” Piper kept complaining.

            You finally let them go, once Arthur’s chuckling had faded behind you.

            “What are you so against him for?” Dakota asked, rubbing her wrist.

            “It’s not that I’m against him. It’s just that he’s potentially easier to make awkward than anybody I know.” You smiled darkly.

            “Oh hey! GUESS WHAT!” Piper suddenly piped up.

            “What?” You rolled your eyes.

            “We’re hosting an exchange student!”

            “What is this, exchange student week?!”

            “Sort of. You know, they come here this year, and next year, we go to their countries?” Dakota gave you an incredulous look. “_______, haven’t you been waiting to travel for a while now?”

            “Oh yeah!”

            Both of them palmed their foreheads.

            “So, yeah. I’m hosting a German guy named…uh…Ludwig Bell-snot or something.” Piper continued. “He’s coming here so he can go to West Point.”

            “Bell-snot?” You started cracking up. “That name is brilliant. I hope he brings you some gingerbread or something.”

            “We have two Italians. Twins. I swear, my parents did that on purpose so me and my sister can meet nice Italian guys.” Dakota squirmed. She was a twin, and apparently the idea of this was not appealing to her.

            “_______, do you have an exchange student? With your house, I kind of think you’d have, like, three.” Piper asked.

            “Eh? Um…I think we might be…my mom mentioned it in passing…but I’m not sure if we are.” You frowned, trying to remember. “If it was though, it’d probably be either someone Polish so they can teach me and my siblings, or Spanish, so I can go to Spain.”

            You had two younger siblings, a brother and a sister, who were twins. However, they both seemed to act much more mature than you did, despite being two years younger.

            “Bye, guys!” You waved as you climbed on your bus to go to work. You felt around in your pocket, hoping to find food money, since you’d be working until 6:30, but alas, there was none to be found.

            You sighed, and plugged in your headphones, unwinding them, and listening to some good old classic rock. The Who blasted in your ears.

           

            “…and I see a face coming through the haze

            I remember him from those crazy days

            Crazy days! Crazy days…”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part three! DundunDUUUN
> 
> Ohman, I've set up so many potential situations it's not even funny.  
> The best part is, the majority of these situations are ones I face in my life!   
> The neighbor bit? Yeah, that's true. Sadly.
> 
> So, Arthur lives in your house! That's the perfect shoujo-manga situation xD

You went through your three hour work shift at the local library peacefully and in your quiet school mood. Half the time, the rest of the librarians didn't even know you were there until you left.

You got distracted here and there as you put things away, giggling at odd titles or reading the inside covers of the young adults' books. Finally though, your shift came to an end at 6:30, and you hurried to the back room to collect your backpack.

As seemed to be the tradition, you walked around the front desk. "Bye, everyone!"

"______! You were so quiet again!" One of the librarians exclaimed.

"If I was as loud as I normally am, I probably would wind up duct-taping my mouth shut during work." You replied with a smile. All it really took to start a conversation with you in this personality was the other person talking first.

"Goodbye, _____," Another librarian called as you walked out the door. 

"Bye!" You said again, and sighed. It was pouring. Fantastic, just when you had to walk through the already-gross chicken yard to close them up and play with the dogs. Of course it would be raining. "I swear, I'm forever cursed with bad weather." You mumbled dryly to yourself.

You hurried to your mom's car, and opened the door to the passenger's seat, jumping in.

"Hey there," Your mom smiled. "How was work?"

You held up your finger. "One minute…" You shook your wet hair like a dog, splattering your mom. "Okay! It was pretty okay. Same as usual."

"Bleck, you play with the dogs too much." Your mom made a face, wiping some water off her face. Your mom was a hilarious, awesome person who knew popular music better than you did, and made it her life's goal to try every recipe in the Martha Steward Cookie Book.

"I taught them all I know," You replied stoutly, grinning.

"Did anything interesting happen at school today?" She asked, pulling out of the parking lot and driving through town.

You thought about it. "Well. I took a chem quiz…"

"And?" Your mom was eyeing you expectantly. Both she and your father were very, very serious about grades. You always joked that they were the stereotypical Asian parents.

"It was easy," You yawned, stretching back. "Easiest chem quiz in all my two months of school."

"So that's a hundred, right?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Oh! _______! The exchange student we're hosting came today while you were at school!" Your mom remarked.

"So we did wind up getting an exchange student!" You whistled, not at all surprised. "Piper and Dakota have 'em too."

"It makes it sound like they're a disease," Your mom laughed.

'The one I met today was…" You muttered, mind recalling Arthur's snarky comments.

"Well, no need to worry about that. The one we have is a good kid. Not like our 'best friend'."

Both of you shuddered at the mention of your 'best friend'. Your next door neighbor had been a good friend of yours when you were younger, although he was known to do stupid things, like put a snake around your neck or lie about beating video games, but somewhere in middle school, he suddenly seemed much more disturbing and suspicious. Your thoughts were confirmed when he was expelled for drugs and stealing. Rumor had it, the police were trying to arrest him, but his parents kept pleading his case.

"Moving on!" You cleared your throat. "Hey, mom, can you take my backpack in so I can go do close up the chickens?"

"Does your backpack have one bowling ball or ten in it?"

"Silly Mom, it's a sixteen ton weight!"

"______, you need to stop the British television shows."

"Once you watch British t.v., you never go back!" You said dramatically, wiggling your fingers. You hopped out of the car and dashed through the rain. You stopped at the gate, tugging at the stubborn lock, and cursing at it for not opening until you finally wrenched it out. 

"Ugh…" You stared at the mud/chicken crap and walked carefully through it, your shoes squelching at each step. You closed the chicken coop and dashed out again, going into the house.

You pulled off your shoes in the mudroom, calling out as you did so, "Hey! I'm breaking into the house and stealing everything in sight!" Your traditional sarcastic greeting.

You walked into the kitchen to find your mom at the stove, and your sister, Bailey, and your brother, Jackson, sitting at the table, talking to someone who you assumed was the exchange student.

You halted, eyes widening as you caught sight of the familiar blond hair and caterpillar eyebrows. "Mr. Kirkland?!"

**********

Apparently, Arthur was just as surprised as you were, because he started choking on his tea. Jackson patted his back. "Don't worry, she scares me too."

You swatted at your brother and he ducked, grinning. Both he and Bailey were smaller in stature, like your mom, and had hair the same color as yours and green eyes. 

"______! You mean…you're the older sister…" Arthur groaned. "That's just my luck."

"Hang on a minute, that's my line!" You retorted, "How did I not know about you beforehand?"

"It was a surprise," Bailey explained. "Mom and Dad didn't tell us." 

"That was sneaky, Mom!" You called to your mom across the room.

"So, you two already know each other? Is this the person you vaguely mentioned in passing on our way home?" Your mom asked curiously, coming over and wiping her wet hands on your shoulder.

"Hey!" You jumped away. 

"I'm flattered you mentioned me, luv." Arthur chuckled, with a slightly smug tone that apparently only you caught.

"Don't be too flattered. I called you a disease."

"Be nice, _______. Arthur's going to be living here until July." Your mom chided. "You're going to have to be nice to him at some point."

"Who knows? Maybe you'll even start calling me 'Arthur'," Arthur added dryly.

"Not a chance, Mr. Kirkland. Not. A. Chance."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part four! Weewt! Lovely tea-time and arguments with a very lovely British exchange student ;D
> 
> Anyway, so what's all this about the bet with your siblings? They're devious little creatures.

"Of all the exchange students, why on Earth did it have to be you?" You grumbled, glowering across the kitchen table at Arthur.

He raised an eyebrow. "You know, I had a rather good impression of you until a few minutes ago."

"Now I'm the one who's flattered," You said sarcastically.

"I did say 'had'," Arthur snorted. "Why do you dislike me so much?"

"I never said once that I disliked you." You retorted.

"Well, it sure seems like it, luv," Arthur rolled his eyes.

"You two fight like a married couple," Bailey interrupted loudly. "Why don't you kiss and make up already?"

For two long, awkward minutes, you all kind of stared at each other with open mouths, before at the same time, you and Arthur exploded.

"LIKE HELL I'LL KISS CATERPILLAR BROWS!"

"WHO'D WANT TO MARRY THIS SARCASTIC GIRL ANYWAY?!" 

You both started arguing again until your mom came up behind you and duct taped your mouth shut. Yes, duct-taped. You glowered at her, but you got the point. You rolled your eyes and said something like:

"Uh-oi, uh-oi Oi'm 'owy." (Alright, alright I'm sorry) You turned to Arthur and stood up and patted his head, repeating your very muffled apology.

He looked at you, rather bemused. "I'm starting to think this is going to be a very interesting year, luv."

"O it ervur," (No shit Sherlock) You replied, but behind your duct tape, you smirked a little. You waved your hand dramatically as you took your backpack up to your room, which was up on the third floor, right next to the attic. You pulled open your blue door and tossed your backpack on the floor, ripping off the duct tape with a wince.

Interesting? With all these exchange students, the word might as well be 'crazy' instead.  
********

Arthur watched you go up the stairs, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I thought I figured her out earlier today," He murmured. 

"She's made up of all kinds and twists and turns," Jackson rolled his eyes. "Trust me, dude, you'll never figure her out."

"Although, I would love to see you try," Bailey remarked, exchanging a grin with her twin.   
"Let's make a bet, Arthur."

He raised his eyebrow. "A bet, you say?"

"If you can figure out her whole personality over the course of this year, something only we've managed to do through our lives, we will each give you fifty bucks." Bailey leaned forward, hands folded.

"Fifty bucks?! Where am I going to get that?!" Jackson yelped.

"Calm down, we'll worry about it when he gets there." Bailey patted her twin's shoulder soothingly. "Right now, he's got a long ways to go."

"And if I lose?" Arthur questioned, chin resting on his knuckles quizzically. 

"We'll find something suitable for you once we get to know you better." Jackson filled in, accepting the bet now with a grin. He was 100% sure Arthur would never be able to figure out their sister's odd, mixed up mind.

Arthur was silent for a moment, before a small smile crept over his face. "I could use 100 dollars. Even in pounds, that's a significant amount. Alright, it's a deal."

"You have until July, Brit," Bailey started, and Jackson finished, "Good luck."

Arthur had always thought twins were creepy.  
*********

You, meanwhile, had hidden away in your room, dutifully doing your homework and getting every bit of it done. You bit your lip as you studied your completed work. You were in four honors classes, and balancing them out along with your job and extra-curricular activities was always difficult.

After three hours, you glanced at the clock. Nine forty-five. You swore to yourself. You had missed dinner…again. You stood up, leaving your laptop open, and wandered downstairs. It was too late to eat real food, but it was never too late for the tea you always loved to drink.

You put some water in a measuring cup, putting it in the pot afterwards. You turned on the stove and sat down on the floor, letting your two dogs crawl over you, yelping and licking your face.

"Get off, you silly fuzzballs!" You giggled as one dog, Buddy, stuck his snout between your arms, held up to defend your face.

"________?" 

You didn't even have to look up to recognize that voice. "Hey, Mr. Kirkland. What's up?"

"I heard a tea-kettle." 

"A tea ke- OH CRAP." You jumped up, pulling it off the stove. You had been so distracted, with your ears filled with snuffling, that you hadn't even heard it. "Geez, are all British people like that with tea?"

"Like what with tea?"

"Like a cat when they hear a can opener?"

He scowled at you darkly. "Very funny."

"I know I am." You grabbed a mug. "Hey, you want some?" You offered.  
"Ah…sure." He said uncertainly, standing awkwardly in the doorway. He was a little confused at your sudden change in personality, again, and his bet with your siblings ran over again in his mind. 'This is going to be harder than I thought,' he winced to himself. In all honesty, he was scared of what your siblings would have in store if he lost.

"Don't be shy, stupid. Come on," You held out a mug to him and poured hot water into it over a teabag.

His look of disgust at the teabag did not escape your peripheral vision. "Teabags…"

"Well, Mr. Kirkland, if it's not good enough for you, too bad. That's all we got." You replied, adding milk into yours. "We ARE Americans, you know."

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to show you how to make real tea," He commented, stirring a bit of sugar into his tea.

"I'll be looking forward to it," You replied, yawning. "Gut nocht, Herr Kirkland." 

"That's three languages now," He muttered, green eyes narrowing in confusion. "How many languages do you speak?"

"Eh? Um…the only ones I speak well are Spanish and English…but…I do know some German…and like, one phrase in French and Italian…" You mumbled. "Doesn't everyone know how to say hi in a bunch of languages anyway?"

"I suppose. You sure had me fooled, I thought you were smarter than you were," His smug tone returned, and you swatted at him. 

"Hey now, you were almost nice for about twenty seconds!" 

"That makes two of us," He replied calmly, with another smirk.

"Well, now I'm going to stay up finishing homework till 2 A.M., so if you don't mind…" You walked away again, heading up the stairs. About halfway, Arthur's voice stopped you again.

"Hey,_____?" He looked a little hesitant. "Don't you think you should have eaten something?"

You paused, surprised at his hint of concern. "Um…no…not really…I'm not hungry…"

He nodded, and hurried out awkwardly, leaving you to chuckle. "Brit."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I got another chapter up! Woot!
> 
> First, the little curl in the beginning? IT'S A REFERENCE TO YOUR CANADIAN-NESS! Actually, I brought it up because I had a weird Canada curl when I woke up this morning...it was a curl...and my hair is totally straight...it was very confusing and Canadian...xD
> 
> So, yes, Arthur's threat of cooking is genuine. So, you better prepare your stomach, readers! T.T
> 
> By the way, there's a few more exchange students who will be showing up. Greece and France I'm sure are staying. Probably China, Russia and Japan too.

The first thing you noticed when you woke up the next morning was an odd little curl you had over your head. You stared at it cross-eyed, pushing it out of the way, when your alarm went off a moment later.

"COME DOWN TO KINGSTON CAR DEALERSHIP AND GET YOUR NEW TOYOTA-" You slammed the silent button, groaning and rubbing your ears. Something had happened yesterday. And you weren't quite sure what. This was going to bother you. Again.

You stood up and looked at the clock again and fell back into bed. Technically, your bus came in an hour. You had plenty of time. So, you fell back asleep for another ten minutes before getting dressed and heading downstairs. 

"Mornin'," You mumbled drowsily. Then you suddenly realized you were the only one down there. "Oh, great." You sighed. You turned and ran up to your sister's room. "WAKE UP."

There was a startled yell. "______! I'm awake, I'm awake!"

You moved on to your brother's room and banged on the door again. "Jack, wake up!"

There was a satisfying thump as he fell out of bed. "Ow…was that really necessary, _______?!"

"Yuh-huh. Pretty much." You replied. "Go wake up Mr. Kirkland, okay?"

"No need, he's awake and dressed," A sleepy British voice mumbled from behind you. His hair was a mess, sticking out all over the place. 

"Good boy. Now go style your eyebrows or something," You danced out of his reach as he glared at you darkly.

You dashed downstairs again, heading over to the stove to cook. You weren't exactly a professional chef, but having chickens led to you being quite talented at cooking eggs. 

So, as a result, you wound up cooking breakfast most mornings.

Jack and Bailey ran down the stairs at the same time, side by side. For some reason, you were always amused when they did twin-y things together. Like falling down the stairs. 

You snickered, setting out the plates. "I rate that fall a three."

"Shut up!" Bailey scowled.

"Yeah, you already woke us up obnoxiously." Jackson glowered at you.

"Hey, I'm not the one who overslept, Jack." You snorted. As Arthur came down, you couldn't resist asking, "Yeesh, does it really take ten minutes to style your eyebrows?"

Now everybody was giving you a death glare while you cheerfully hummed classic rock and gave them their food. 

Arthur took a bite of your food and looked up, shocked. "This…this is…really tasty!"

"Eh, you've done better," Bailey commented as she chewed. "It tastes better with cheese."

"Thanks, Mr. Kirkland," You replied cheerfully. "I appreciate the compliment." You ignored Bailey's criticism.

"I personally don't care, as long as it gets me through the day," Jackson remarked. "I mean, that's what food's for anyway."

"Too true, Jack." You ate your own breakfast, and it was silent for a little while.

"I wonder if I should try cooking for you guys at some point," Arthur said thoughtfully.

"No offense, but I don't trust British cooking," You said flatly. 

"Yeah, I always hear about how bland it is." Jackson stuck out his tongue in disgust.

"Now, French cooking on the other hand…" Bailey trailed off dreamily. "That's good stuff."

"As long as it doesn't involve snails, I'm okay with that." You stood up, collecting the dishes. "Let's get moving!"  
*******

You, Jackson, Bailey and Arthur were all on the bus. You were smushed in with one of your friends, and everyone else awkwardly found someone they didn't know to sit with.

"Hey, ______? Do you mind if I go with you this morning? I don't exactly…have any friends right now…" Arthur looked uncomfortable to be asking about it.

"Eh? Oh…um…sure. My friends are actually hosting exchange students too." You replied, a bit surprised. "Although, you know, apparently you're popular with girls already because of your accent…"

"Where did you hear that from?" He looked amused. 

"Spanish class yesterday and people in the hallway," You said promptly. The bus shuddered to a halt at the school, and you stood up, swaying, and let all the people in front of you go before walking out yourself. Just because you were a nice person, sometimes.

You and Arthur split off from Jackson and Bailey at the top of the stairs. Your locker, where you and your friends gathered, was all the way on the bottom floor. As you walked down, you waved cheerfully to your ex-boyfriend as you passed him.

"Who was that?" Arthur looked puzzled. "I never saw him before."

"Oh, he's my ex," You replied absently. 

"That's the first time I've seen someone greet their ex so cheerfully."

"We were friends to begin with, so we're still friends. Nothing wrong with that." You led   
him downstairs again to your locker, where you soon met up with all of your friends, who   
were talking to several new guys.

"Oh, look. It's ______ and her British guy!" Piper yelled the second she saw you.

"Since when is Mr. Kirkland /my/ British guy?" You demanded. You caught sight of your friend Gwyn. "WIFE!" You two had a long-standing joke that you were married, and she was your wife. Another one of your friends was your Secret Lover.

"HUSBAND!" She returned back.

"What the fuck…?" Arthur muttered in confusion.

"Oh, okay. So, um…Mr. Kirkland, this is my wife, Gwyn. I am married five times…"

Arthur continued to just stare at you in confusion.

"Oh yeah, ______! Did you get an exchange student?" Dakota asked, peering up at you. 

You could feel Arthur smirking behind you. "Yeah. This guy. Right here." You jerked your thumb to indicate the smug Brit.

"Aw, _______, that's the perfect set-up for a shoujo-manga story!" Gwyn squealed. "After all, don't you want to live in England yourself someday?"

Everything suddenly got awkwardly silent. Arthur was staring at you, astonished. "You want to live in England?" He paused. "Also, what's shoujo manga?"

You glared at Gwyn. "That's not something you say in front of this guy!" You turned to Arthur. "And never you mind! GIRL STUFF." The one thing you can almost always scare guys away with.

"NEH. Hey, _____! The other exchange students are here too!" Piper kicked you.

You had been so busy, you didn't even notice them. "Oh! Ciao!"

Two of them widened their eyes at the familiar greeting. One of them grinned, waving his hands. "Ciao, ragazza bella!" 

You raised an eyebrow. 'Ragazza bella?' You thought to yourself. 'That's a first.'

These two were both tall and thin, with brown hair and a curl that defied gravity. The difference was that one of them had darker hair, and this said twin also had his curl on the left side of his head.

"Ciao." The darker-haired one grumbled. "I'm-a Lovino Vargas. Dammit."

"Vee! Nice to meet you, I'm-a Felicianno Vargas!" The other one twirled. "You can call me Feli!"

"Okay, cool," You grinned. "I'm ______. And this is Mr. Kirkland."

Arthur cleared his throat. "It's Arthur."

"But you can call him Caterpillar Brows." Piper informed them.

"HEY!"

Another one was sitting with his back against the lockers. He stood up, sighing. He was broad-shouldered with slicked back blonde hair and blue eyes. "I'm Ludvig Beilschmidt. A pleasure."

You nodded, still grinning, and shook his hand. Suddenly, you remembered Piper calling him Bell-snot yesterday, and started cracking up. He watched you, puzzled, as you sat down, laughing hysterically.

All of them watched you, amazed at your outburst, except Piper, who poked you complaining about being hungry.

Most of all, you were very happy to have successfully terrified your new British companion.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In case you didn't guess from the description, the exchange student in your art class was Greece x3 He's going to show up again with an introduction.
> 
> Okay, so I was having the hardest time trying to think of a good name for the friend that's based off of my friend Amalia...so I just used her nickname...xD There will also be more friends. And France.
> 
> So, you got attacked by France! I was originally going to have him petting your butt, but I've been seeing a lot of complaints about France doing too much raping/sexually harassing. Now, I can't possibly believe there is such a thing for France, but we'll just have this be his worst in this chapter.

In a moment, the bell had rung, and you jumped. "Gah! They need to change that bell, it's too obnoxiously loud!"

"Isn't that the point?" Arthur pointed out dryly. 

"Shut up, Kirkland," You scowled. "Why don't you go to class?"

"With pleasure," He stood up and smirked at you before cheerfully saying goodbye to everyone else. "Cheerio!"

You glared daggers at his back, and turned to everyone else. "So, who has to make a run for the top floor with me?" 

Ludwig looked up. "Ah…ja, I do."

"Okay, Herr Beilschmidt. Let's get moving, then!" You promptly led the way upstairs to your chemistry class, Ludwig hurrying behind you.

You sat at your desk promptly, and Ludwig, sure enough, had the same class. He followed you and sat down uncomfortably in the desk next to you. Luckily, he didn't make the same awkward mistake Arthur had made yesterday in Spanish.

Almost as soon as the class started, you pulled out your sketchbook and started drawing absently. Though you were smart, you got lower grades because you had an inability to pay attention in math and science. 

Every few minutes, you thought you heard someone murmur your name, but you shrugged it off. You misheard your name one too many times to pay much attention to it. Finally, Ludwig gave up on trying to get your attention back to chemistry, and just grabbed your sketchbook instead, shoving it under his binder and glaring at you.

You glared right back, (e/c) eyes meeting sky blue, and you sighed, turning back to the front of the room. You wound up learning more in that one class that you were forced to pay attention in than any other time that year.

The bell rang, and you jumped up. "Hey, Ludwig! Can you keep doing that?" You asked him excitedly. 

"Doing vat?" He queried, handing back your sketchbook.

"Stealing my sketchbook during chem!" 

"Nein, you need to learn self-control," He sighed. "It was just bothering me a lot today."

You scowled, but you were secretly betting he would do it anyway. He seemed like the totally-serious-about-everything type of guy. You walked with him as far as the next floor, until you separated and ran to your art class.

When you got there, much to your surprise, there was another foreign exchange student you'd never seen before. He was casually dressed in a teal t-shirt and tan pants, with dark hair, green eyes, and an odd curl on top of his head that you decided had to be styled. 

"What is it with foreigners and hair curls?!" You muttered to yourself. "Is that a new trend or something…?"

"Vee! _______!" You heard a heavily accented Italian voice call you cheerfully. "You're in this class too?"

"Feli!" You grinned back at him, snapping out of your sarcastic mood. "Yeah, I am!"

"Gosh, ______, aren't /you/ popular with the exchange students?" One of your friends said jokingly. 

"Well you know how…" You pretended to flip your hair dramatically, "Exceedingly popular I am…"

"Oh, God. She's in that mood again!" Your friend Jackie groaned. 

"Of course I am!" You started giggling. "This is the best class of the day, after all!"

"Wah! ______, you're so happy!" Feli skipped over. "Hey hey! Can I sit with you?" 

"Of course you can, Feli!" You twirled your hand, bowing dramatically. "Come join us in the fishbowl!"

The art room really was a fishbowl. It was down a level from the main entrance, from which you could look down the room and students through a window that spanned across half the art room. 

You, Feli and your friends laughed, chatted, and painted for the entire class. Your crazy art teacher, Mrs. Hudson, played music and you all sang along, telling weird stories and such. It really was your favorite class of the day. 

Unfortunately, your class periods are only oh-so-long, so you were forced to abandon your artistic paradise, and you, three friends and Feli left together, and you went to your history class.

History passed by quickly as you talked about the Declaration of Independence. As you went to get a printed copy of it, you grabbed an extra one, chuckling as you plotted a plan for later.

You left history and went to math, where you promptly hugged your "wife". Over the weeks, you two greeting each other as husband and wife had apparently incited several other similar marriages in the class. You both were very proud and amused at this.

"Okay, everyone," Your math teacher walked in. "We have a new exchange student, so everyone be nice to him. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Ah. That was such a typical thing for a teacher to say when there was a new student. You shook your head regretfully at the lack of originality, when the new student came in. He was tall, with shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes. He also had a beard, which gave you the uncomfortable feeling that he was a pedophile.

"Bonjour, mon amis! I'm Francis Bonnefoy, and I am from France," He introduced himself, with a low 'honhonhon' afterwards which made you shiver again. Something about this guy was really making you uneasy.

Of course, like any other stereotypical new student who you were uncomfortable with, your teacher decided to put him next to you. The whole class period, you uncomfortably took notes, avoiding Francis's heated stare. When the bell rang, you were so ready to go you fell out of your chair trying to leave.

"Mon ami, are you really that nervous?" Francis chuckled, crouching down next to you. "Why is that?"

"Husband!" Gwyn dashed over.

"Because that beard makes you look like a pedo," You grumbled. "Anything else?"

He chuckled again and kissed your forehead, causing you to scramble back in horrified outrage. "Au revoir!" He waved and left, still chuckling to himself.

"What the hell was that?!" You raged to Gwyn as you both walked down the hallway. "Goddamn French frog!"

"What's all this about a French frog?" Arthur appeared next to you. He seemed a mixture of curious and irritated.

"Like I said. Cat and can opener." You muttered, earning a glare. 

"Hey,_______? I'm going to go meet Mali so we can go to lunch!" Gwyn hugged you. "Bye, husband!"

"Bye wife!" You said dramatically. And, awkwardly enough, you were going in the same direction.

"Damn, I hate when that happens…" You muttered. 

"French frog?" Arthur prompted.

"Ah. Yes. There's a French frog in our math class. He has a beard and he looks like a pedophile." You enlightened Arthur on the subject with a dry tone.

"Don't forget the part about him kissing your forehead," Gwyn giggled.

"How could I forget that?" You groaned. "I want to keel heem." 

Arthur stared at you in shock. "He did what now?"

You raised an eyebrow. "Kirkland, you look like I did when he kissed me." You snorted. You were still outraged, but you were going to get your revenge soon.

"_______! Gwyn!" You heard your friend Mali before you saw her, and she hurried over.   
"Hey! Oh, is this your British exchange student?"

"Since when is he mine?!" You demanded again, like you had earlier that morning.

"I'm Arthur Kirkland, nice to meet you," He held out his hand, and Mali shook it, looking somewhat amused with a half-smirk.

"So, Gwyn, let's go to lunch!" The two of them ran off. "Bye, _____! Bye Arthur!" 

You and Arthur waved and kept walking. Turns out he was in your advanced English class as well. Before you walked in the room, you stopped him. 

"Hang on, Mr. Kirkland, I have a present for you." You rummaged around in your bag while he looked on suspiciously.

"Here you go!" You handed him a piece of paper and hurried into the room.  
*******

Arthur opened the folded piece of paper and stared at the heading: The Declaration of Independence. He groaned and rolled his eyes while you, in the classroom, withheld hysterical laughter.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I finally got the next chapter up! 
> 
> Anyway. I've noticed that a lot of these modern-day England stories don't have Arthur fascinated with magic like he really is. And poor Flying Mint Bunny is always neglected!  
> So, I decided to have you walk in on him doing magic! MAGICAL BONDING TIME WITH ENGLAND.  
> By the way, I made it less sarcastic, because I suddenly remembered this was supposed to be a romance thing xD
> 
> By the way, the bronchitis thing will be extended some other time >:3 MOAR BONDING xD But poor Arthur has his work cut out for him trying to get you to be friends with him at least.

You sat down, and your English teacher, who was, along with your art teacher, your favorite, introduced Arthur to the class.

"We have a British invader!" She announced. "His name's Arthur Kirkland, so beat up on him as much as you want!"

Your whole class stared him down. Over the years, the advanced English class had gotten smaller and smaller, so you all had become a rather exclusive group of friends now. It wasn't going to be easy for him to fit in, particularly when the only person he knew…was…you…

You came to that realization with a low groan as he sat next to you. He raised his eyebrow. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't predict you at all. He stared at you thoughtfully, considering your mixed attitude towards him. Then suddenly, he heard his name.

"Now, if we were to assess the way our lovely new student Arthur is behaving, what would you say?" Your teacher asked, and he snapped to attention, turning scarlet. "What sort of diction would you use? Everybody, write a paragraph!"

The class was filled with a mixture of giggles and groans as they got paper out. Arthur, if possible, flushed an even darker red. This was the most awkward he'd been in a very long time. They all probably thought he liked you.

At the end of the class, everyone handed in their papers, and Arthur stood, blushing, and left. He didn't notice you hanging around afterwards. You spent your time either here in your English class, or in your art class, during your lunch. None of your friends were in your lunch period, so you got bored quickly and left. 

"Hey,_______! Let's read what everyone wrote!" Your English teacher exclaimed. "After all, he was staring at /you/, so you have a right to read it."

"This is gonna be awkward…" You muttered, but took half the papers. You and your teacher took turns reading the papers out loud. 

Some of the papers said he was just zoning off, and it happened to look like he was staring at you. Others said he was trying to be creepy, but you ignored him (this is what you put as well). However, the majority said that he was completely infatuated with you and couldn't keep his eyes off you. These ones made you scoff. Finally, you reached Arthur's paper, and it said he was not staring at you because he liked you, but because he was trying to figure you out.

For a few moments, you and your teacher were silent.

"Well, if that's not an awkward excuse, I don't know what is," Your teacher said finally.   
"I still say he likes you, ______."

"Are you kidding? My siblings told me they had a bet going with him." You explained as best you could about the bet, which you didn't really understand yourself.

"What if he does like you?"

"Well, I don't have anything against him, but I don't like-like him." You shrugged. "I enjoy tormenting him."

Your teacher was silent again, thoughtful. "You never know, you may like him by the end of the year."

"I highly doubt it."

*************

You got home, dead tired and coughing again. You had bronchitis recently, and it just wouldn't go away. So, by the time you got to your house from your bus stop, you were exhausted. 

You dropped your things on the kitchen floor and slid down against the wall so you were sitting on the floor, breathing heavily.

"_______? Are you-" Jack walked over, and swore under his breath. "Aw, you look like crap."

"No…shit…Sherlock…" You muttered, tilting your head back to breathe better. You recovered and stood up again. "Alright, I'm good."

"Want to borrow my inhaler?" Jack offered helpfully, unusually nicely for him.  
You eyed him suspiciously. "No thanks…" You sighed and picked up your bag again, carrying it up to your attic room. You went downstairs, and you heard someone talking. Curious, you followed the sound. As you did, you recognized the voice as Arthur's, but you couldn't understand a word he was saying.

As you got closer to his room, his words came out more clearly, but you still couldn't understand him:

"…meter-maid-a, Jack, Latoya, Janet, Michael, Dumbledore-a the explora…"

You gently pushed his door open, and stared. You could only stare. 

Arthur had on a long black cloak, reading from a big old book. He was standing by a huge circle that looked suspiciously like one of the transmutation circles from Fullmetal Alchemist.

You watched as he repeated the seemingly random words, but the circle remained exactly the same. 

"Damn it! It must be because I'm in America, my magic doesn't work…!" You heard him curse under his breath. "At least I still have Flying Mint Bunny…"

You saw him reach up to the air above his head and pet the empty space there. "I swear, you're my only friend in life."

You were a little offended at this, so you pushed open the door. "Hey, Arthur! Whatcha doing?"

"______!" He flushed in embarrassment. "I, I was…" He paused, suddenly realizing something. "Hang on, you just…"

You quirked your eyebrow, grinning. "Saying Mr. Kirkland was taking up too much time. And what can I say? I'm lazy."

You walked over to him and stared at the circle. "So," you started, watching his increasingly uncomfortable facial expressions, "Summoning something?"

"Um…yeah…" He answered, unsure of whether you were joking or not.

"What?"

"Eh?"

"What are you summoning?"

"A…um…monster. From…hell."

"I see."

"Yeah."

You stared at the circle with an unfathomable expression while Arthur mentally was torn beside you. On one hand, he was glad you started calling him by his first name. On the other, he was worried about losing his only potential friend in America by doing something weird.

"Can you teach me?"

He was startled out of his thoughts by your question. "Pardon?"

"Magic," You repeated. "Can you teach me?" You had always had a fascination for the supernatural, and frankly, the fact that Arthur possibly knew magic got you all excited. You even forgot about his no-friends comment.

"Well, it appears that it's not really working here." Arthur said uncomfortably. "I can hardly see any of my magical- er, I mean, I can't see any fantastic creatures."

"You were talking to a Flying Mint Pony or something just now."

"IT WAS A FLYING MINT BUNNY. And how long were you listening, exactly?" Arthur demanded.

You slowly turned to look at him, your (e/c) eyes boring holes into him. "Since the 'Dumbledora the explora' thing."

Arthur groaned and swore again. That was the most embarrassing spell he ever repeated, and of course it would be that spell someone walked in on. "Maybe next year," He muttered as you turned to leave.

"What?"

"Maybe I'll teach you next year. You know, when you go to England," He mumbled, thumbing through his book to avoid looking at you.

You opened your mouth before closing it again. "You almost said something nice, Mr. Kirkland."

"I thought you were calling me 'Arthur' now."

You smiled. "Nah, forget it. Your Britishness is going to be novelty amusement forever."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's such FLUFF. [flails] GAH. Anyway. You and your siblings suffered the results of Arthur's cooking...AND SURVIVED.
> 
> (By the way, this chapter is meant to restore love for Arthur XD He was being kind of mean earlier)

Over the next few weeks, a few things went badly. At least for Arthur, anyway. You and him were arguing over everything every single day. You saw this as highly amusing, since you were very fond of arguing, particularly with someone who reacted as well as Arthur did. However, Arthur saw this as a hindrance to him being close enough to actually understand your personality, so his arguing was becoming more and more irritable.

Soon enough, you caught on to this, and stopped for a little while to let him cool down. You were very much enjoying his company, though you were loathe to admit it, and the last thing you wanted was someone who lived in the same house as you to hate you. 

One night though, you let something slip that apparently really set Arthur off. You couldn't even remember what it was, and yet he was so infuriated that it startled you into angrily yelling back.

Unfortunately, your parents weren't there to stop the fight, and Bailey and Jackson only watched, eyes wide open, as you two beat each other up figuratively.

So now, you were sitting in bed, scowling at the ceiling. "Stupid Brit." You muttered. "It was a joke!"

You kept muttering to yourself, all the while Arthur was sitting outside your door, listening. He wound up feeling guilty about it, and slunk back downstairs to think about something he could do to make it up to everyone.

**************

The next morning, you woke up to a horrible smell. Something was burning. Panicking, you ran downstairs, following the smell, and halted to find Arthur in the kitchen, 'cooking'.

He was at the stove, with an apron and a spatula, and some unidentifiable black mass in a pan. You heard Bailey come up behind you, and Jackson behind her.

"Arthur, what's that smell?" Bailey asked, yawning.

"Oh! It's um…" He started to look embarrassed. "Well, I wanted to make up for being so un-gentlemanly last night, and I um…made breakfast."

You, being the clever little thing you are, recognized this as an apology, and felt obliged to accept his 'food'. Jack stared at you, mouthing, 'It's disgusting! Tox-ic!'

You ignored his mouthed warnings, and started eating. It was all you could do to not spit out the burnt food. You had burnt food before, but not to this horrible extent. Whereas when you burnt food and you could just take off the burnt part, the whole thing was burnt from inside to out. 

You choked down the whole thing. Yes, the whole burnt piece of crap. Jack and Bailey silently started applauding and ate their very own pieces of crap while Arthur watched your expression anxiously. "Was it…how…"

"'s great, Kirk…kir…" You shuddered violently and dashed out of the room and retched into the nearest toilet. A few minutes later, Arthur followed you, looking worried. 

"_______, are you- no, that's a stupid question. Are you well enough to go to school?" Arthur asked, looking abashed.

You gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look, and leaned over, retching again. 

Arthur shifted his weight, trying to figure out what he should be doing, then uneasily walked over to you and started rubbing your back with one hand very gently and held your   
(h/l) (h/c) hair out of the way.

You were stunned by his sudden kindness towards you, and in the back of your mind, you were suspicious of him plotting something (which he wasn't), but were interrupted by retching again.

Finally, you were able to sit down, breathing raggedly. All this puking wasn't helping your instable breathing condition in the least. 

Arthur looked at you, his worried green eyes searching your pale face. "_____, are you better? Can you move?"

"Mhm," You mumbled, and pushed yourself to your feet , swaying dangerously. "Ugh…remind me to teach you how to cook…"

Arthur moved and pulled your arm across his shoulder. "Some other time, luv. For now, let's get you up to your room."

He helped you all the way back to your room, where you collapsed on your bed, curling up in your recently-abandoned nest of sheets and blankets, and looked at him as he gazed around your room.

"Oh, you've never been in here before, have you?" You murmured, quickly getting tired.  
Your room was plastered with posters. Posters of (favorite band) and (favorite anime), along with old school art projects were all over the room. You could hardly see the actual wall anymore.

"______, go to sleep," Arthur said gently, sitting on the edge of your bed. "Jack and Bailey are staying home today too. I'll stay back and keep an eye on you all."

"They threw up too?" You mumbled.

"Yeah, but you had too much. And it looks like you actually have a fever," He replied quietly.

You watched him through half-closed eyes. "B'fore you apologize…we were the ones who ate it…so…" At this point, you drifted off to sleep, exhausted already.

Arthur waited until he was sure you were asleep, then stood up again. Hesitantly, he brushed a piece of hair out of your sleeping face, and then turned and walked out the door, shutting off the lights behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I wrote a longer one than usual! :3 This is to make up for it being a couple days late.  
> So, homecoming is coming up? Will Arthur ask you to the dance? Probably not, since he's oh-so-very awkward :3  
> Will someone ask you? OHYES THEY WILL.
> 
> Muahaha. Deal with the suspense >3 (Not really xD)

Much to Arthur's disappointment, you were back to your normal, snarky self soon enough. 

The day you were home sick while Arthur kindly took care of you was a Friday, luckily, so in your mind, you had a three day weekend for the price of eating Arthur's food! Lucky you!

The weekend went by slowly. You were trapped at home while it was pouring outside. That combined with the 36 degree temperature outside, and the lack of heating in your house, everybody spent the majority of the weekend curled up in blankets in the living room.

"Y-you know," Arthur had pointed out, "Thirty six degrees isn't that cold…"

"Says the one whose teeth are chattering," You muttered.

While Arthur inchworm-style (in case you don't know, it's weird crawling without using hands or feet that works best in a sleeping bag) crawled over to headbutt you, Bailey replied calmly from your other side.

"Well, it's that awkward time where, like, you know how in spring, 45 degrees is suddenly warm enough to wear a t-shirt? It's the opposite now." 

"I want spring!" Your mom groaned. "It's so cold without heating."

"Do you actually have heating or…?" Arthur trailed off.

"Dad just refuses to buy oil until November." Jack explained. "Y' know, since it's really really expensive right now?"

So, the five of you spent the weekend reading and watching various movies in the living room in front of the fire while your dad stomped in and out, muttering about everyone being wimps.

On Monday morning, you came downstairs in clothes that Arthur could only see as bizarre. 

You were dressed in cosplay. Yes, cosplay. You had a cosplay from [insert favorite anime not Hetalia], and so did your friend, and so today, you were twinning!

It was Spirit Week at your school, the week before the homecoming game and dance, and every day, you had a different clothing style to dress up as. Today was Twin Day. 

"Ah…______?" Arthur looked hesitant. "Why are you…?"

"Me and Gwyn are twinning!" You replied cheerfully.

"In costume? Halloween's not for another week!"

"Oh, I'm wearing this then too. But if we're all twinning, why not do it awesomely? IN COSPLAY?" You demanded, glowering at him.

Arthur flushed. "Whatever…" He muttered.

"Hey, Arthur? Why didn't you find a twin?" Bailey asked, puzzled. Her twinning costume was so ordinary.

"Because I am his best friend and I'm already twinning," You interrupted before he could answer.

"Since when are you my best friend?" Arthur demanded.

"Since you decided to hang out with me, though what possibly could have compelled you to do that, I have no idea," You replied promptly.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Considering we both live here…no, not really."

"Damn," Arthur sighed and leaned back, watching you in costume again for a minute and shaking his head.

"Hey, ______, are you going to homecoming?" Jack asked, sliding down the banister.

"I dunno," You sighed. "The music at that thing is crap. And last year, it was really poorly organized."

"Homecoming?" Arthur echoed in confusion.

"Eh? Oh, is there no homecoming in England?" Jack blinked at him, confused. He was twinning with his whole freshmen football team. In their jerseys, which, in your mind, was unbelievably unoriginal.

"I don't know about all of England, but there isn't any where I'm from," Arthur shrugged. 

"So, care to explain?"

"So, homecoming is basically led up to by Spirit Week, where we show our school spirit-" Bailey explained before you broke in.

"-or just want an opportunity to dress weirdly!" You chipped in.

"-and is ended by the pep rally and homecoming game. And the day after the game is the homecoming dance," Bailey finished, glaring at you.

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "Dance? _______ can dance?"

"No," Both your siblings shook their heads.

"Hey!" You protested. "I can dance! With the right music!"

"______, your 'right music' is outdated by a couple decades. Nobody will play it there!" Bailey snorted, earning a whack on the head.

"Anyway, I went last year. I might go again, if my friends force me to. But otherwise I really don't want to…" You concluded, still glaring at your snickering younger siblings.

"Last year, wasn't your condition on going that you thought nobody would follow through with…"

"Yeah, wasn't it for somebody to ask you?"

Arthur froze up in shock, and covered up his freeze with a sarcastic, "Well, whoever it was didn't know you that well."

"Too true, my good gentleman!" You replied cheerfully. "I went with him because I felt bad. I somehow wound up dating him afterwards."

"For months," Jack snickered.

"You know, you two are just asking to be hammered into the ground like a Whack-a-Mole,"   
You commented, turning to them to glower.

"Was that the ex you said hi to in the hallways?" Arthur questioned.

"Wow, you remember that? Yeah, that was him," You were surprised. But then again, Arthur always seemed to remember the really obscure details. As opposed to the big picture, which he usually forgets.

Arthur dug around in his backpack. "Damn it…" He swore, palming himself in the forehead.

"What's your issue?" You ducked your face down so it was right in front of him.  
He turned red and pulled away, much to your amusement. "I left my homework in the living room, near the fireplace…"

You, Jack and Bailey all winced at the same time. You were all so desperate to keep the fire going without moving that you had thrown in anything paper-y near the fireplace into the fire.

"This isn't good, this isn't good," Arthur got up and started pacing, looking agitated and nervous.

"Mr. Kirkland, you're such a nerd," You snorted. "One homework won't kill you."

"I have never missed a day of homework!" He replied agitatedly, still pacing.

"How is that even possible?" Jack whispered.

"Which homework is it?" Bailey asked.

"Spanish!" He groaned. 

"Oh boy, you really are over-reacting!" You rolled your eyes. "She never checks the homework!"

"But she goes over it!"

You watched him pace for a few more minutes before you gave up and reached into your own backpack.  
"Copy mine, stupid, you're giving me a headache just watching you." You handed it to him. "Although, it's eighth period, you could definitely have it done by then."

He stared at you, not answering, and then threw his arms around you in such an un-Arthur-ish way that you stumbled back and fell over.

"Ow, ow…" You rubbed your head. "Hey, mind getting off of me? You're welcome."

Arthur hastily jumped up and offered you a hand. "Terribly sorry, luv. That was-"

"Ungentlemanly of you, I'm sure." You chuckled.

"Hey, Arthur?" Bailey asked hesitantly.

"Hm?"

"I'm not sure if you realized it, but you called ______ 'luv' again. Even though you swore you never would again."

This was the result of one of your bigger arguments with the Brit, and Arthur opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

"So I did."


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, here's the pep rally and homecoming! I might do Halloween next.
> 
> By the way, before you get too excited, you're not dating xD

So, Sprit Week passed by quickly and colorfully, and nobody asked you to homecoming. 

However, your friends begged you to stand in what they dubbed the "nerd corner" with them, so you obliged and bought a ticket.

Currently though, it was Friday, the day of the pep rally, and you were being bustled along by the pack of people heading to the gym. You were talking to Dakota, who was excitedly telling you that the student you saw in your art class (whose name, you found out, was Heracles) had asked her to homecoming. Apparently they had bonded in their love of cats and sleeping.

You were talking and laughing, and got shoved into the person in front of you, causing both of you to fall over. You saw Dakota grin at you once before hurrying away, and you groaned. Partially from pain, and partially because you knew she did that on purpose.

It was tradition for you and your friends to shove each other at guys if they liked them. You peered down at the poor soul who had been knocked over.

"Oh, geez, Mr. Kirkland! If I'd known it was you, I wouldn't have apologized!" You exclaimed.

"_____...you didn't apologize." Arthur sat up, rubbing his head. 

"Well, sorry," You said, contradicting yourself as you so often do. Arthur stared at you, head tipped curiously- a habit, you proudly realized, he had picked up from you. "What?"   
You asked, holding out a hand.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. You're just making less and less sense the more I get to know you," He commented, taking your hand and getting hauled to his feet.

You, keeping hold on his hand, starting pulling him through. "C'mon, Kirkland! I'm good at getting through crowds!"

You dragged him through the hoard of people, eventually getting to the gym. Scanning the walls, you found your class, the juniors, and went over, Arthur in tow.

"Ve~! _______! We're up here!" Feli was waving his hands frantically from the top row. He, and all of your friends and the exchange students, were all sitting in one area, chatting. 

You waved back and grinned at Arthur. "Let's get going, then!" 

"Ah…can you let go of my hand, please?" Arthur asked, flushing.

"Eh?...oh, yeah, sure," You dropped his hand like a hot potato and climbed to the top of the bleachers. "Hey guys!"

"Hey!" Came the collective yell from your friends.

"Hey, ______? Are you going to homecoming with anybody?" Dakota asked innocently from   
where she was sitting with Heracles.

You gave her such a death glare that she made a sound like "eep!" and hid in Heracles's shirt.

"What's that all about, luv?" Arthur asked you, getting your attention as you both sat down, you still glaring at Dakota.

"Eh? Oh…nothing important," You coughed, not exactly willing to tell Arthur that she had in fact been pushed into him so they would go to homecoming together. 

Arthur looked at her doubtfully. "If you say so," He said slowly, suspiciously.

You were relieved he was at least pretending to believe you. Feli tugged at your hood.   
"Ve~! ______! Talk to me, Luddy's being angry!"

"I TOLD YOU TO NOT CALL ME LUDDY!" Ludwig growled at Feli. In the span of a few weeks,   
Feli, for reasons unknown, had become very attached to Ludwig. The German was irritated,   
but a little flattered at first, and now just found him to be like a puppy he found in a box somewhere: untrained, bouncy, annoying and loud.

You calmed Ludwig down and started talking to Feli about different drawing tools and such, when the pep rally started. Somebody dressed in a [insert school mascot here] costume ran out, waving a banner with your school colors on it. As it passed, the whole school cheered and screamed.

You saw Piper poke Arthur out of the corner of your eye. "Hey, wanker! You're supposed to be listening and screaming!"

You raised your eyebrows as you noticed that Arthur had his ears well-covered. "But it's so loud," He complained.

"It's supposed to be," You replied, startling him. "It's a pep rally!"

"It would inspire me to go to the emergency room for an exploded ear drum," He muttered in response.

So, it was safe to say, it was a very successful pep rally.

*********

You straightened your homecoming dress, sighing unhappily. You really didn't want to go, but you already bought your fifteen dollar ticket, so now you were stuck. You walked downstairs, shoes in hand, and sat down at the table, putting them on.

"Oh my god, ______! I never see you in dresses!" Bailey exclaimed, jaw dropping. "Let me do your makeup, please!"

"Fine, whatever," You grumbled. You just wanted to get this over with. Since you didn't wear dresses that often, your parents started exclaiming and squealing whenever you did, acting like you do when you fangirl over anime or something.

Twenty minutes later, you were all dolled up in a decent dress (one not just below your butt) and had light make-up on that made your (e/c) eyes really pop. You waited patiently for your mom to come so she could take you, when you heard something else above your head.

You stared in shock as Arthur came downstairs, dressed in a nice shirt, tie and pants, with a black jacket that honestly seemed a little too formal, but lets face it: he was stunning enough that you didn't even notice.

Arthur looked up and noticed you staring, oddly feeling a little sense of triumph at your complete and utter amazement, and couldn't help admiring you too. You both stared at each other in shock for a while, until Arthur shook himself out of it.

"I know I'm handsome, luv, but would you mind not staring?" He smirked.

You blinked rapidly, and glared at him, flushing a little in embarrassment. "I was staring at your eyebrows. I couldn't believe they could get any bigger, but they did!" You shot back, saying the first thing that came to mind.

Arthur winced. "Ouch. That one really hit home, luv."

"Just thought I'd let you know, you guys were staring at each other like Romeo and Juliet," Bailey commented slyly, coming in with her own homecoming dress. 

Both of you flushed again, and yelled simultaneously: "We did not!"

"Totally did," Jackson smirked, straightening his tie.

"You guys should just go together already," Bailey waved her arms. "You two are so stupid."

"No way!" You scowled. 

*********

So, you got to homecoming, and you and your friends were standing and chatting in the "Nerd corner". You were relaxed. Or, rather, as relaxed as you could be with a pack of people grinding a few feet away to horrible music.

You sighed irritably, but turned to watch your other friends. Dakota and Heracles were talking animatedly about something, and judging by Dakota's hand gestures, it was about   
cats. 

Arthur walked over to you and leaned against the wall with you. "Hello, luv," He greeted you, looking just about as bored as you were.

"Hey there, Kirkland," You replied, yawning. "Having fun yet?"

"If you call a bunch of girls suddenly grinding you fun…" Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Wouldn't most guys think that was fun?" You wondered out loud.

"Only the man-whores." Arthur replied promptly, causing you to crack up. He looked at you, puzzled, but with an amused smile. "What's so funny?"

"That was so out of character for you," You snorted, standing up straight again and recovering as best you could, still giggling occasionally.

"Out of character, she says," Arthur quirked an eyebrow. "This coming from the girl who is irritable one minute and cheery the next."

"Yeah, pretty much," You agreed cheerfully.

"Hey, ______?" Arthur asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" You turned to blink at him, head tipped.

"Wou-"

"Mon ami!" A French accent interrupted Arthur, and you groaned and covered your eyes. 

"Francis. What the hell do you want?" You demanded, already vaguely knowing the answer.

"Well, I want to dance with you of course, ________!" Francis flipped his shoulder-length blonde hair like a teenage girl and held out his hand.

"Ah, no thanks, I'd rather stay here," You shuffled backwards into Arthur, whose fingers twitched, like he wanted to grab your hand.

"I insist!"

"No way, frog!"

Francis grabbed you around the waste, causing you to squeak in surprise and horror as he smirked down at you. "Come dancing with me, mon ami."

"Nonononono," You muttered, trying to pull out. "Freaking frog. Let go of me!"

Suddenly, Francis was no longer touching you, and Arthur was in front of you. "She said to leave her alone, frog!"

Francis was sitting on the floor a few feet away, with not a cut or bruise to be found.

"Arthur, how did you-" You whispered, and suddenly halted, realizing what you had done.

Arthur smiled. "Thank you for calling me by name, luv. As for the frog…well, a little magic goes a long way."

*************

You, Arthur, and all of your friends had moved back into the corner, and your friends freaked out. They had, much to your chagrin, heard you calling Arthur by first name, and were convinced this meant you were going out with him.

"No it does not! It means nothing!" You insisted, glowering at everyone.

"Oh, come on, _______," Piper smirked. "We all know you like the British!"

"…shut up."

"And besides, you and Arthur already live together…" Dakota added.

"Shut up."

"You fight like a married couple already." Gwyn giggled.

"Shut up!"

"_______, if you vant, you can escape vith me and Felicianno," a gruff voice said behind you. You whirled around, relieved to see Ludwig. 

"Ludwig! You're a lightsaber!" You exclaimed, using your substitution for life saver.

"A vat?"

"Nevermind…"

"Ve~! Luddy, ______, let's go!" Feli started flailing his arms, and the three of you left to the lobby to escape the crowds.

**********

Arthur looked after you, unknowingly with a very disappointed look on his face.

"Bonjour," A French accent interrupted his staring. 

Arthur's head whipped around, glaring viciously at the Frenchman. "What do you want now, frog?"

"Nothing, nothing," He replied, leaning against the wall. "Arthur, you do know that they all told me to come over and interrupt you, right?"

Arthur stared. "Why on Earth would you do that?" He demanded.

"They wanted to get you two in a situation where you would dance," Francis explained.   
"Though if you ask me, you don't deserve such a pretty girl."

Arthur turned scarlet, partially from anger, partially from embarrassment. "You git! That's what I was doing when you interrupted me!"

There was an awkward silence in the group. Some money was exchanged. 

"We were…convinced…that you wouldn't have the nerve to ask." Heracles explained.

Arthur, fuming, spun around and left for the lobby. "Wankers!"

************

You, Feli and Ludwig were all in the lobby, talking and relaxing, when Feli jumped up to go get food, and dragged Ludwig with him.

You sat by yourself, going over the recent events in your mind, when Arthur's now-familiar voice interrupted your thoughts.

"Pardon me, luv, but do you mind if I finish asking my earlier question?" He was smiling at you sweetly, something you had never seen him do before, and frankly, you were   
astonished.

"Uh…sure," You replied uncertainly, blinking. "Go ahead."

"Would you like to dance?"

You leaned back against your chair with a thud. "Dance?"

"Yes, luv. Dance." Arthur repeated, looking a little awkward and amused at the same time.

"To this music?" You questioned suspiciously.

"No, to my own music." Arthur shook his head. "How can you dance to that stuff anyway?"

"Good question," You laughed. Arthur pulled out his MP3 player, smiling, and held out his hand.

You paused for a moment before taking it with a vague smile, and he led you outside. He took one of the headphones and you took the other.

"Just a warning, I can't dance," You warned.

"It's alright, luv. I'll teach you." Arthur smiled, taking your hand and leading you into a slow dance.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 11's a bit of a filler, but I hope you like it anyway owo
> 
> HALLOWEEN! YAY! And a prank on poor Ludwig x3
> 
> By the way, there is going to be a bit of a plot thing with Russia, that's not there just for fun. Just a little one, mind you. After all, this is an EnglandXReader story XD
> 
> Sorry this chapter is suckish, guys! D:

After you two had danced, and people started leaving, you had hastily let go of each other, flushing awkwardly as your friends smirked at you. 

"Knew it!" They all said in unison, making you two blush even more.

However, after the dance was over and you were back home, you both started acting pretty much the same as you normally did.

The only difference was that you were now calling Arthur by his first name, which he saw as a major triumph on his part.

Nowadays, Arthur was becoming more and more fascinated by your behavior. After the dance, he vigorously started studying you again, trying to figure you out. This time, however, it was to satisfy his own curiosity as well.

He had figured you out enough, however, to not be surprised when you appeared downstairs on that Wednesday, Halloween, dressed in full costume. However, what he did not expect was that you were dressed up as Ludwig.

"What…are you…doing?" Arthur asked slowly.

"TWENTY PUSH-UPS!" You roared in response, startling him. You grinned. "I'm being Ludwig for Halloween! I think he can be pretty darn scary, you know?"

"If you're going for a scary person, why don't you dress as that new Russian guy?" Bailey shuddered. 

"Because I don't know him and that's rude. Besides, me, Feli, Piper, Gwyn, and Mali are all dressing up as Ludwig. Together. Just to scare the crap out of him," You grinned, cracking up just thinking about the expression his face would have.

You had slicked your hair back as best you could, dressing in a white button-down shirt and trousers, as well as nice shoes. "EINZ ZWEI DREI!" You bellowed, testing out your   
"Ludwig" voice.

Arthur covered his face with his hand and muttered something unintelligible. He himself wasn't planning on doing any Halloween-y things, mostly because it was a Wednesday and he had homework to do, he was sure.

*********

You arrived at school, meeting up with your friends beforehand. You stopped Arthur as he continued walking down to your locker, and dragged him over, slicking his hair back, insisting that he ditch the sweater vest, and keeping his shirt untucked.

You stepped back, admiring your handiwork. "Not bad," you whistled, impressed. "You could pass for good-looking without a sweater vest, you know.

For a brief moment, Arthur looked a little red, but the next, he replied with a smirk, "Thanks for the compliment, luv. It's good to know you think I'm good-looking."

"You could pass for it," You repeated, smirking back.

"You know, you two were so cute during homecoming," Gwyn sighed. "Shouldn't you be dating by now?"

Without looking at Arthur (who was flushing again in embarrassment), you grinned. "Oh, come on! Where's the fun in that? Why would I date this awkward guy anyway?" You tilted   
your head at Arthur. "No offense."

"None taken," He replied dryly, clearly offended.

You all got downstairs to the locker, where Ludwig was sitting by himself, looking rather lonely. You put a finger to your lips to your giggling friends, and then clicked your   
heels.

"Achtung!"

Ludwig looked up, startled, and his eyes followed until they settled on you. "Oh, mein gott…" A look of horror crossed his face as six Ludwigs marched over towards him, counting off in German as they did so.

"I expected this from you lot, but vat is the meaning of this, Arthur?" Ludwig demanded of the serious Brit.

Arthur stared at the floor, looking ready to sink in from embarrassment. "Ah, well…"

"I forced him to!" You piped up. "He wasn't doing anything Halloween-y, so I forcibly made him be you for Halloween with the rest of us!"

Ludwig groaned and banged his head on his binder. You grinned, (e/c) eyes sparkling mischievously. 

"Ve~ Happy Halloween, Luddy!" Feli chimed, skipping over to stand next to you, leaning over your shoulder. "You should come trick or treating with us!"

"Vat? You're seventeen years old and you're still going?" Ludwig looked astonished.

"Are you serious?" Arthur raised his eyebrows at you, incredulous.

"Of course we are!" Mali replied, grinning.

"We're going to get free food from total strangers. I mean, how is that not fun?" Piper demanded of him.

"Yeah, you're never too old to beg for food!" You added cheerfully. "You two in or out?"

Arthur and Ludwig exchanged a look. You could almost see their mind process in the air around them:

Halloween=Late Night (Embarrassing Costume x Loud People)/ Homework

Their minds are very mathematical, unfortunately. 

"Nein…I vill pass." Ludwig shifted uncomfortably. "Mein bruder is coming later…I want to get him settled."

"Good excuse," You nodded at Ludwig, and turned to Arthur. "Well, ARTHUR? I know you have no plans other than doing homework. So I am hereby forcing you to come along."

"I'm sorry, I'm going to do my homework, thank you." Arthur replied awkwardly.

"Ah! You people are no fun!" You scowled and whirled around, walking to your first period class with Ludwig hurrying behind you.

In your US History class, the new Russian student was sitting behind you. "Hello," He greeted you softly. "Can I use a pencil?"

"Uh, sure," You replied, trying hard not to figure out whether he was creepy or not. You honestly couldn't see what everyone was panicking about.

You and the Russian, whose name, you found out, was Ivan, were fast friends by the end of the period, and you two left class cracking "In Soviet Russia…" jokes. 

You went through the rest of the day barking German orders at anyone and everyone, startling them out of their seats. Every time you saw Arthur, he was always writing in a composition notebook. Every single time.

You tried to take the notebook at some point, but he snatched it back almost immediately.   
Now you were dying to know whether the notebook was his secret diary or something, and you fully intended to do something about it by the end of the night.

*************

As it turns out, you never found out about the notebook, as you got completely distracted by Halloween. You and your friends met up in the housing development where Piper and Mali lived, and you all started walking around, collecting candy. As you walked up the second street, you saw a silhouette coming closer and closer towards you.

You all exchanged looks. This silhouette, no matter how close it came, was still just a silhouette. You couldn't see any features at all on it. It was the silhouette of a man with a cape and top hat.

Feli started crying that it was scary, and Piper clung to him as well, though what good that did was beyond you.

You strode up to the silhouette, staring at it while it stared at you, just as intensely.   
All of a sudden, you noticed a feature that made you recognize the figure.

"Arthur!"

The figure stepped back, shocked. "How did you know it was me?"

You grinned. "Your eyebrows stick out of your costume."


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woot! I finally got the next chapter up! [sorry guys, I have a lot of school work owo]  
> I'll update all the information and links and stuff tomorrow.
> 
> I always feel like Russia is a little misunderstood, and that he can be a nice person if he wants to be...WHICH HE DOES!

You were not in a good mood. And it was all Arthur’s fault, of course.

Arthur had come to ask you something when he noticed you hanging out with Ivan. Now, he had heard all of the rumors about Ivan, mainly about him being a psychopath and notorious for being downright scary, so naturally, he panicked when he saw you near him. What didn’t make it any better was that you were grinning and laughing.

Arthur had almost gone up to drag you away, but thought better of it and wound up just shoving his hands in his pockets, abandoning the situation irritably.

Now you, on the other hand, had been hanging out with Ivan for a while now. Honestly, you couldn’t see why everyone was so scared of him. In your eyes, you saw him as a really nice guy. He never did anything creepy, or psychopathic, or any of the things Arthur had heard. In fact, he was rather lonely, and you were his only friend.

“Are you alright, sunflower?” Ivan asked, concerned. “You look angry.”

You hadn’t even realized that you’d been scowling all day. “Oh. No, not really. I’m mad at Arthur,” You explained, getting straight to the point, There was really nobody else for you to talk to this about except Ivan. Everyone else found him downright creepy and wouldn’t sympathize.

“I thought you two were dating…” Ivan trailed off, tipping his head. Everybody was adopting that cute little habit of yours.

“Hell no,” You snorted. “We were friends, because he lives at my house for the year.”

As you went on ranting, Arthur overheard this bit about you only being friends because he lived at your house, and became furious. This time, he did stomp up to you and drag you, protesting, away.

Ivan thought about doing something, but decided to let you go. He knew nothing would get better by isolating you. He would never get all the friends he dreamed of one day having that way. And he wanted you, his only friend, to be happy. He smiled and opened his locker, fingering the pipe that he kept there. 

However, if Arthur hurt you in any way, he was ready to be there to beat the crap out of him.

 

***********

 

“Arthur, let go, bastard!” You were swearing like a sailor as he dragged you outside, pinning you against a wall. People were staring, but one look from Arthur's downright furious glare scared everyone away until it was just the two of you.

For a moment, you were actually scared of him. Your eyes widened as his green eyes darkened with anger, glittering emotionally, and his eyebrows furrowed.

“You’re only friends with me because I live at your house?” He demanded, his face an inch away from yours. You could smell his tea-scented breath. It made you uncomfortable, to be honest.

You flushed. “Arthur, you know I could have sworn you were pissed at me already and had stopped being my friend.” You replied angrily, bonking foreheads with him.

To your surprise, he pulled away and leaned back against the wall with a heavy sigh. His anger had vanished suspiciously quickly, and you were caught by surprise when he mumbled something about “can’t stay mad at you for too long”.

“Well, I’m still staying mad at you,” You retorted, still angry at his behavior towards Ivan. 

He straightened up, startled. “What?” He narrowed his eyes. “Is this about the Russian?”

“Yes, it’s about Ivan!” You replied, putting emphasis on his name. “You can’t judge someone before you even know them!”

Arthur stared at you. “You don’t know?” His anger faded. “There was an article on it in   
the paper.”

“How often do I read the paper, Arthur?”

He sighed. “There was an article about a Russian being released from jail. He murdered a man with a pipe, and is described as having silver hair and violet eyes.”

“So, everyone does know,” a voice said softly. You whirled around to face Ivan, whose face was overcast and you couldn’t read his expression. “That’s why nobody will be friends with me.”

“Ivan…” You murmured, hugging him. “I’m your friend!”

“Da,” He smiled. “Thank you, sunflower.” He kissed your forehead. “You need to make up with Kirkland though, da?” He looked up at a slightly pissed Arthur. “I will come and kill you if you make my sunflower upset again.”

Arthur’s eyes widened. “I-…You…” He cleared his throat. “Honestly, I never try to hurt ______ in any way.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, really?”

Arthur smirked back at you. “Yes, but you insist on arguing with me. So we will keep arguing.”

Ivan let you go and you stepped out of his hug, turning to smirk back at Arthur. “My friend, we will argue forever. That’s just the way we are.”

“Forever, hm? Let’s see who can break that first,” Arthur chuckled.

“You won’t win.”

“We’ll see about that, luv.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter thirteen's up!  
> HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Arthur meets your weirdy family!
> 
> Next up is a cute filler involving your friends, and Prussia (who DID show up, by the way)   
> And after that is Christmas-y Time!

True to your word, you and Arthur argued every single day. As you did, the weather got colder and colder, and it was getting close to Thanksgiving.

"Hey, ______?" What are you doing on Thanksgiving?" Gwyn asked. 

"Beats me," You shrugged. "Nobody tells me about these things until about two days before it happens!"

"Lies," Arthur caught up to you two. "______, your parents said several times that we're all going upstate for your family reunion."

"Arthur's going to your family reunion?" Gwyn looked incredulous. 

"Technically speaking, he's part of the family for the year," You pointed out earnestly.

"Maybe for good," Gwyn muttered, unheard by you, but definitely heard by Arthur. 

While Arthur flushed bright red, you asked her to repeat what she'd said. She just grinned, and hurried onward, leaving you to catch up, yelling.

*********

You, Bailey, Jackson and Arthur were all packed in the car, ready to go. Luckily, your car had a third row of seats, so you weren't too claustrophobic, but still, being in the car with six people made you uncomfortable. Not to mention that somehow you wound up sitting with Arthur. 

You had brought your dogs with you, the expensive cost of putting them in a kennel immediately refused, and they were barking, loudly and sharply, at every car with another dog that passed. 

"Ugh!" You groaned, sticking your headphones in. Normally, you were either nauseous or talking nonstop in the car. Today, you were leaning more towards irritable and nauseous. 

"What's your problem?" Arthur asked, your irritation rubbing off on him.

"Oh, _______ gets nauseous in car rides," Jack explained, peering over the seat. "Not enough to make her barf or anything, but enough to make her miserable. And GROUCHY! She gets so GROUCHY!"

"Shut up!" You growled, leaning against the window. Luckily, the car also made you dead tired, so you drifted off to sleep rather quickly. However, at one sharp turn, your elbow fell off its perch on the edge of the window, and you fell across into Arthur's lap.

"H-hey!" He stuttered, too awkward to push you off. 

"Aw, they're so cute," Your mom commented, peering in the rearview mirror.

Arthur turned red again. "Not you too! Can't we have at least one person on our side?"

"We ARE on your side." Your mom, Bailey, and Jackson all chorused. 

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think you're dating," Your dad commented. He was a tall man with graying dark brown hair and the same color eyes as you. Despite his apparent support of Arthur's protest, there was a vague warning behind it that was evident enough to Arthur that he gulped warily.

You shifted in your sleep, murmuring something that Arthur tried to catch. All he could make out was something along the lines of:

"...fr'd...hew...gimme...mon cards..."

Arthur raised an eyebrow, not making any sense of this mysterious message, but was startled when you said:

"st'pid...thur...give...back..."

Despite his brief blush, he smiled, and gently stroked your (h/l) (h/c) hair while you slept, a motion that changed your dreams, oddly enough from your perspective, to being a cat and looking up to see a certain Englishman smiling and stroking your head.

*********

By the time you awoke, Arthur had fallen asleep as well, and was leaning on the opposite window. You blinked, trying to work out where you were, as your sleepy mind had not considered sitting up yet. 

You suddenly realized where you were, and was about to sit up when you realized Arthur's hand was on your head. Your mind flashed back to your dream, and you vaguely remembered being a cat, and wondered if that was somehow brought on by this, but you shrugged it off.

All the same, you closed your eyes again and went back to sleep, not willing to move from where you were sleeping comfortably.

*********

You finally reached the reunion at about 8 o'clock that evening, when you all made your grand entrance (with Arthur slinking in awkwardly behind you) and you dashed over to your cousins, whose ages all varied from three to nineteen, and all of them were coloring in Disney Princess coloring books.

"Hey everyone!" You announced yourself gaily, beaming.

"Hey, look! It's the (Last Name) Clan!" Your favorite cousin jumped up, grinning, to hug you. He looked a lot like your mom, considering his dad was her little brother, and they all had the same eyes and face. He was two years older than you, but you'd known him the longest.

"Who's the awkward turtle?" Another cousin demanded.

"Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"Is he adopted?"

"Hang on! LET ME ANSWER!" You roared in reply, getting the whole room to quiet down. You looked around. Everyone was staring at you. "Ah...awkward silence..."

"Just explain, will you!" Another cousin scowled.

The room resumed its chatter, and you pulled Arthur from his little corner. "This is Arthur Kirkland. He's not my boyfriend, or adopted, he's a British exchange student." You explained calmly.

"...wait, you're ________, why aren't you calling him Mr. Kirkland or something?" Your favorite cousin demanded. 

You, Bailey, and Jackson started cracking up, doubling over in laughter. Arthur explained dryly. "She called me Mr. Kirkland for about two months before she-"

"Got too lazy, I'll bet." Another cousin nodded.

Arthur blinked in surprise. "How did you...?"

They all stared at him incredulously. "We're related, stupid!" They said in unison, and all started grinning and chatting excitedly about how cool it was that they all said it in unison.

"C'mon, Arthur, come color princesses with us!" Bailey called him over to where you three had left him.

"Princesses?" Arthur echoed.

"What, are you too cool for princesses or something?" You snorted.

"Dude, princesses are awesome!" Jack chipped in.

Arthur raised his eyebrows. He made a mental note on this childish side of your personality, and sat down to join you. "Alright, if you say so..."

***********

You were all gathered around the dinner table, food served, and everyone going around saying what they were thankful for.

It got around to your immediate family, and the thank you's went something like this:

"Thank you for cars, football, and my family."

"Thank you for my children, our exchange student, and this food."

"Thank you for volleyball, books, my family, and having an exchange student."

"Thank you for football, having another guy in the house, and that everyone can cook."

"Thank you for food, anime, music, my family, and having someone to tease."

It got down to Arthur, and he gulped, looking around, before saying slowly, awkwardly.   
"Ah...thank you for the opportunity to come to America and meet fantastic people, and for food and my family back in England." 

You opened your eye part way to glance at him, and gave him a thumbs up. "Happy Thanksgiving, Arthur!" You whispered.

"Happy Thanksgiving, luv," He replied, smiling weakly, raising his glass along with everybody else's for a toast.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally got the next chapter up!   
> Okay, so, it's a bit of a filler, and it only has the warning because this has Romano and therefore a bit more language than usual. I mean, I don't see the point, since most people know this already, so I might as well take it down. In fact, I probably will.
> 
> YOU KISSED! O: Of course, you're not dating. Arthur's too shy to actually ask you out. It took all his self control (and a literal shove from the crowd) to actually go through with this.
> 
> Believe it or not, I randomized all the winnings. I went on this website...www.randomize.org/lists and randomized, literally, everything. IT CAME OUT BEAUTIFULLY. I made all the winnings random too, with the exception of the art contest, which was necessary. Lulz, and I did the bit with Gwyn and Gil in the beginning for my friend who the character is based off of (the Prussia you see in my cosplaying pictures) who loves Prussia (and also just had something awesome happen )
> 
> ANYWAY. Next up is a Christmas Party! Look forward to it! Al and Matthew are gonna be there! >   
> By the way, in case you're wondering, Piper kissed France owo  
> Don't ask me why, but she loves him o.o She likes America more, but he hasn't showed yet.

"________, what on Earth are you doing?" Arthur demanded, walking up behind you. 

You fell flat on your face, startled. "Warn someone before you sneak up on them!" You scowled. 

You had been crouched on the floor, peering around the corner at something. Whatever it was, you had a devious look on your face, and it made Arthur suspicious.

"What, do you have a crush on someone?" He asked, smirking slightly to cover up his vague worry.

Without turning to look at him so he wouldn't see the grin on your face, you replied,   
"Maybe. What's it to you?"

You spun around just in time to catch the expression of disappointed shock on his face for a second. "Gotcha," You poked his ribs. "Nah, I'm watching...THEM."

"Who?" Arthur peered around as well. There was no one else there, only...

...a couple unicorns? He turned to stare at you. "C-can you..."

"Wrong way, Einstein," You snorted, grabbing his head and turning it the other way. 

Arthur was again disappointed, but was surprised to find Ludwig's brother, Gilbert, talking to Gwyn, who was blushing spectacularly. Gilbert was smaller than his brother, and skinnier, with the white hair and red eyes of an albino. 

"______, it's not good to eavesdrop, luv," He murmured in your ear, as you had gone back to leaning over with him.

"Oh, but it is," You replied, equally quietly. "She's liked him since first sight."

"Isn't it loved at first sight?" Arthur questioned her phrasing.

"Shush, that was her terming," You waved your hand in his direction. "Let's watch!"

The two of you watched as Gilbert actually stopped talking for once, while Gwyn said something to him, and he flushed bright red, his jaw hanging open. Slowly, and still remarkably quietly for him, he nodded, to which Gwyn flushed again and hugged him.

You leaned back against the wall, smirking. "Job well done, me!"

Arthur raised one eyebrow, "Don't tell me that was your doing, luv."

"Alright, I won't tell you then," You replied in a sing-song voice. 

Arthur rolled his eyes at the cliché joke. "You silly girl, why didn't you let things go their own pace?"

"Because their own pace was too damn slow!" You grinned at him. "Gwyn liked him and wouldn't do anything, so I went and tricked 'em!"

"You...tricked them?"

"Yeah! Come on now, Arthur! It's time for the real fun to start!" You grabbed him and pulled him after you as you went outside.

************

So, today, a warm Saturday in November, you had gotten all of your friends to gather at your house to have a group activity day. It was your one free weekend since school had started, and you wanted to hang out with everybody.

"Alright guys!" You yelled to the group of chattering people. "Let's get this party started!" You grinned around at everyone, and suddenly you noticed someone that made your smile falter. "Okay, who brought Francis here?!" You demanded.

"Mon ami, don't be so hateful, it doesn't suit you," Francis smiled smugly. "It was Gilbert who brought me here."

You cracked your knuckles. "I swear to god, Gilbert, I am going to kill you." You muttered. "Whatever, at least that makes it an even number now!" 

"An even number for what?" Piper demanded.

"GAMES AND FUN STUFF," You replied loudly, and took the hat Arthur handed you with everyone's names in it. "Okay, so there's gonna be seven groups of two, selected randomly.   
Then we're going to have a series of games and stuff, and whoever wins gets a kiss from someone of their choice!"

"Hang on, where'd you pull that prize from?!" Arthur demanded, flushing. "I thought it was supposed to be cookies!"

"Yeah, but I kind of...ate all of them..." 

"YOU ATE THIRTY COOKIES?" 

"Hey, Jack helped!" You scowled. "You clearly haven't seen the extent of my appetite..."

"I'm making muffins!" Your mom called from the house. 

"Okay, so there's muffins! Now we don't have the kissing prize!" Jack jumped up.

"No way, Jose! This makes it all the more interesting!" Mali grinned.

"Okay, now to do the name drawings..." You dug around in the hat. "Let's see, first pair is...Ludwig and Mali!"

To your immense surprise, Mali turned bright red. Everybody except Ludwig noticed too, because there was a light chuckling.

"Um...next group is...Dakota and Bailey!" You called out. 

They grinned at each other and high-fived.

"Next is Gilbert and Ivan!"

Gilbert glanced over at Ivan, a look of immense fear crossing his face. He was more creeped out by Ivan than everybody else was. Ivan just smiled pleasantly back. "We will win this, da?"

"O...kay then..." You shook your head. "Next group is Gwyn and Jackson!"

Gwyn and Jack looked at each other for a moment and shrugged. Despite being one of your best friends, Gwyn had never really talked to Jack much. You hid a grin as you saw Gilbert scowling. "D'aw, he's already possessive," You murmured to yourself.

You drew the next group, "Um...the next one is me and Feli!" You grinned over at the cheerful Italian.

"Ve~! Me and _____ are in a group!" Feli tackled you, hanging onto your shoulders while you staggered back, grinning. What you didn't see was Arthur's slightly disappointed, and now fearful expression. The only ones left were himself, Francis, Lovino, and Piper, all   
of whom...

"Next is Francis and Lovi!" You called out, "Leaving Arthur with Piper!"  
Arthur and Piper exchanged a death glare. Oh, this is gonna be good.' You thought to yourself, hiding another grin.

"Alright, guys! Let's get started! First off is a paintball tournament!" You paused. "We only have four guns, though, so let's do another random draw to see who faces off first!"

You pulled out half the names. "Okay, now..." You dug around in the remaining names. "First groups competing are...England and Piper versus Ludwig and Mali!"

Arthur gulped. He knew Ludwig was military, and had therefore probably more experience and aim than anybody else here. He awkwardly took the gun from you and looked at Piper.

"We better not lose, you piece of nothing!" She scowled.

He couldn't resist returning with "What, is there someone you want to kiss?"

She scowled. "No way, lobster. It's not-" She broke off, almost giving herself away. She wouldn't admit it, but she shipped you and Arthur like you were an anime pairing. She also shipped Francis and Arthur, but let's face it, that clearly wasn't happening anytime soon. 

"SHUT UP YOU LITTLE PIECE OF NOTHING AND LET'S KICK SOME ASS!"

Arthur winced at her crude language, but sighed, and followed her to the open pasture where they'd be fighting. 

With a few deft shots, it was Ludwig's win. England scowled, putting down his paintball gun. This was going to be a long day. He and Piper mostly shot at each other rather than Ludwig and Mali, due to their profound hatred towards each other.

"Okay, next up against Team...uh...hey guys? Let's come up with team names!" You suggested.   
"Makes things easier!"

"Hey, bro! If we were on the same team, we could be Team Beer!" Gilbert called to Ludwig, grinning ecstatically. "We'd totally win, because we'd have the awesome me and our awesome blood made of beer!"

"Luddy, you drink beer?" Mali asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Ludwig coughed. "Not since I came here, nein. But I am German. Vat did you expect?"

Mali sighed, shaking her head, while Gilbert started laughing hysterically. "Mein less awesome than me little bruder hasn't had any beer in three months?! HA!"

"GUYS. TEAM NAMES." You brought them back to the subject at hand. 

"We will be Team Vodka, da?" Ivan suggested merrily to Gilbert, who paled.

"Uh...ja! Sure! Team Vodka! The awesome me totally agrees!"

"Okay, we've got Team Vodka!" You turned to Feli. "Hey, what'll we be?" 

"Can we be Team Pasta?!"

"Noo let's make it more colorful!" You whined.

"TEAM RAINBOW PASTA!" Feli cheered.

"WE'RE TEAM RAINBOW PASTA!" You announced loudly.

"AGH SOMEBODY A-GET THIS SON OF A BITCH AWAY FROM MEEE! CHIGIIIII!" Lovi ran over to you and Feli, hiding behind you.

"Francis!" You glared at him. "Leave poor Lovi alone!"

"But we are Team Love," Francis winked, "Shouldn't I be loving my teammate?"

"You're...Team Love?" You and Feli stared incredulously at Lovi, who was brighter red than   
any tomato you'd ever seen.

"Shut up! I am-a Italian!" He stuttered.

"Okay, Team Love over here!" You called out.

Arthur walked up to you. "We're Team Hate You." He said curtly.

"I hope that's not directed at me," You raised an eyebrow. 

Arthur turned red again. "No, it's for Piper. We hate each other."

"Glad to hear it," You patted his head.

"WE'RE TEAM FLUFFERNUTTER!" Mali called out loudly.

Everybody stared at Germany, who looked totally and utterly defeated. "I lost...at rock paper scissors...mein gott..."

You started cracking up. "Okay, and who's left?"

"Jack and I are Team Awesome!" Gwyn called out, waving her hand.

"Ja! That's mein leib!" Gilbert grinned, before suddenly realizing what he said and turning scarlet.

"I told you, Arthur!" You nudged the Brit.

"I didn't doubt it," He sighed.

"Ohonhon, mon ami, you will have to tell me everything..." Francis put an arm around Gil's   
shoulder.

"Kesesese! Nein! Not a chance, Francey-pants!" Gil laughed.

"Me and Bailey are Team Puppies!" Dakota announced.

"Dakota, I thought you were a cat person!" Piper demanded. She and Dakota were avid   
Warriors Cats fans. "Isn't that why you're dating Heracles?"

Dakota flushed. "I'm an animal person! Why do you think I want to be a vet?!"

"Besides, I hate cats," Bailey scowled. "I would never be on Team Kittens or something."

"Alright, everyone! Let's ACTUALLY start the games!" While everyone was arguing, you and   
Feli had made t-shirts with all the team names on them, and the person and their team-  
member's name. "First place gets three points, Second place gets two points, third place gets one point! The team with the most points wins!"

************

 

In the paintball war, Team Fluffernutter had, of course, came out on top with the Hate-You team in second, and Team Vodka in third. Not surprisingly, you, on Team Rainbow Pasta, was in last.

"Okay, next game is chalk-art! Whoever makes the best chalk art drawing wins!" You announced, excited. You and Feli were master artists. 

You, Team Rainbow Pasta, came in first, with an epic drawing of the Lady and the Tramp spaghetti scene. Team Love, with Francis and Lovino, came in second with a...interesting...drawing of a nude woman, which you hosed off the driveway immediately after. In third was   
Team Puppies who had drawn, not surprisingly, an adorable cartoon golden retriever. 

You moved on through the games, including an obstacle course. Unfortunately for you, you and Feli only won two contests, since both of you weren't especially athletic or very good with hand-eye coordination. With the obstacle course, shockingly, Team Vodka came in first. This was probably because Ivan scared Gil so much that he went through the course as quickly as he could. Anyway, following that, Team Puppies came in second, since they were so small that they could get through everything very quickly. Third was Team Fluffernutter, which was shocking, seeing as Ludwig had decided midway through to carry Mali.

For the next activity was a pie-eating contest, which several people groaned at, but you, Piper, Feli and Lovi cheered at. You and Feli won that, followed by Piper and Arthur (who shockingly managed to eat the whole pie), and then followed by Team Love, in which Lovi ate both his and Francis's pies.

The next and final was a race, which you sincerely hoped you would win. You really wanted the muffins. You had completely forgotten about the other prize. You and Feli, you both found out, were very good at sprints, but horrible for long-distance. Feli was good if he was running from something, in particular. 

Shockingly, it was Team Awesome who had won. Jack, a football player, was good at charging through and knocking everyone out of the way, leaving it clear for Gwyn to come behind him. Second place was Team Hate You. Piper was a soccer player, so that wasn't too surprising, but what was surprising was the revelation of Arthur's speed. He had kept up with speedy Piper with only a little effort. Finally, in third, was Team Love, which they had mostly accomplished due to Lovi running in fear of Francis and crossing the finish line by accident.

"Alright...everyone." You handed them their now-dried t-shirts. "Let's add up the points!" 

You went through. "Okay...Team Fluffernutter...four points!"

"Team Hate You...six!"

"Team Awesome...three!"

"Team Rainbow Pasta...six!"

"Team Vodka....four!"

"Team Love...four!"

"Team Puppies...three!"

You blinked in surprised. "Damn, we're gonna have to come up with another activity. Team Rainbow Pasta versus Team Hate You." 

A bunch of people were exchanging smirks and sniggers, but you somehow didn't notice, and turned to your mom, who was watching. "Hey, Mutti! Can you think of any good activities?"

"How about a three-legged race?" Your mom suggested.

"A whosa-whatsa race?" You tipped your head.

"You have to work with your partner. You hold on to each other's shoulders and tie the one   
of each of your legs together, and you have to get to the finish line like that." Dakota explained.

You and Feli exchanged a look of dismay. Piper and Arthur were very well coordinated physically, while you two fell flat on your face at any given moment.

Piper and Arthur exchanged a groan. The height differences between them were drastic. Piper was only just five foot tall, while Arthur was nearly ten inches taller than her.   
Meanwhile, you and Feli were close to the same height.

In any case, you got started, tying each others' legs together. "Let's do this, Feli!" You cheered.

"YAY! RAINBOW PASTA!" Feli replied happily.

"Okay...on your marks..." Mali started.

"Get set..." Ludwig continued.

"GO!" They shouted in unison, with Gilbert yelling "BANG!" for effect.

Right at the get-go, you and Feli fell over. "Wah! ______, we're so uncoordinated!" Feli complained. 

"DON'T SAY THAT! WE CAN DO IT!" You had a fierce competitive streak, and there was no way you were going to let Piper win.

Piper and Arthur were hobbling along, slowly, but not looking like they were going to be falling over anytime soon.

"DAMN IT YOU STUPID REDCOAT! GO FASTER!!" Piper complained.

"If I went any faster, stupid Yankee, we'd face-plant the ground like those two did!" Arthur argued. 

You and Feli struggled to get up, this taking up a whole thirty seconds. Finally, you got up, and started hopping towards the finish line.

"What ze hell?" Ludwig muttered.

"HAHAHAHA! YOU TWO LOOK SO UN-AWESOME!" Gilbert cackled.

Unfortunately for your competitive nature, you lost spectacularly. However, you did cross the finish line, even though in the process, you face-planted again. 

Everything went quiet as Team Hate You came in first. Everyone was holding their breath.

You didn't even notice as you untied your leg. "Fucking cat," You grumbled. This had, for some strange reason or another, become your new curse to everything.

You sat back on the grass, and Arthur walked over to you. "Eh? Arthur, what's-" You were cut off as Arthur suddenly bent forward and kissed you. Yes, he kissed you!

Everyone started clapping and yelling, "FINALLY!" as Arthur pulled away, blushing furiously.

You could only stare at him in shock. "Uh..."

He recovered from his embarrassment and smiled at you. "I won, luv."


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So NOW you two are dating! > But of course, with your personalities, don't think there won't be a few bumps along the way...maybe some handsome foreigner will come and steal your heart for a little while!   
> So, some other handsome foreigner is going to come in late!
> 
> By the way, this story's going to end with July in this, and then I'll do another one.

So, despite Arthur kissing you, nothing in your relationship had changed, apart from the slightly more frequent blushes on your part. Time passed, and it was around the second week of December, the time when you had your infamous open house Christmas party!

So, while you were peacefully making Christmas cookies, your mom went around the house, hanging mistletoe wherever she could, hoping she could catch you and Arthur kissing on camera. However, this created a lot more surprising events than she had planned for.

You were really in the Christmas spirit, humming carols and smiling all day and all night, drinking eggnog, and all in all, just being downright HAPPY. One reason was because eggnog and Christmas cookies were delicious, rich goodies that made you giddy beyond belief. The other reason was because your best friends of your childhood, who you kept contact with via email, were coming to your party and staying at your house for Christmas! Their families were somewhat distant, and they liked your family much better. However, Arthur was not made aware of this fact, which he later wished he had been. 

Soon enough, all the food for the party was made, as well as the decorations and activities. So for now, you hung around in the foyer, waiting with everybody patiently for the guests. Or, rather, you were the only one who was impatient, and you were driving everyone crazy with your constant pacing.

"______! You're making my head hurt!" Your father snapped finally, saying what everyone else was thing.

You halted. "Sorry! But unless you want me hanging upside down over something..."

"NOT WHEN WE BLOW-DRIED YOUR HAIR!" Your mom shouted. 

Scowling irritably, you plopped, cross-legged, onto the floor.

Soon enough, Piper showed up, followed by several of Bailey's friends in a pack. You tackle-hugged her, even though she started flailing and going "NEEH!"

As more people flooded in, you suddenly heard one voice that made you bounce up excitedly.

"HEY THE HERO'S HERE! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" 

The door was flung open, and one guy, tall, dark blond with blue eyes and a random hair that curled up above his head, and another guy, his presence masked by his brother's obnoxiousness, with lighter, longer blond hair and violet eyes, came in.

"Alfred!" You yelped excitedly, tackling him with a huge hug. He was your best friend since you two were babies, and had remained that way, even though you had moved.

"Hey, _______!" He grinned, squeezing you tightly with obnoxious strength. "I've missed you!"

Now, Arthur was watching this with a vague feeling of dread creeping up on him. So much was he noticing this, that he didn't notice the other guy come up next to him. 

"H-hi there..." Arthur whirled around to face him, startled. "I'm Matthew...you're Arthur, right?"

"Yeah," Arthur trailed off. "But how did you..."

"Me and Alfred are the ones who are staying here through Christmas," Matthew explained. "They told us."

Arthur's feeling of dread suddenly washed over him, and he turned to watch you and Alfred goofing off with your double act. "Ah, Matthew...are they..."

Matthew thought about it and let a small smile cross his face. He had seen the way Arthur was watching you and Alfred, and, despite his innocent appearance, he did have French blood, so he replied. "Well, Alfred liked her for a while."

He watched in amusement as Arthur's green eyes narrowed slightly, and Matthew exchanged a wink with Bailey and Jack.

Finally, you remembered Mattie, and ordered Alfred, who was carrying you on his back, over towards his brother. You hopped down and tackled Matthew. "Hey Mattie! Gah, I missed you  
so much! Hey, did you see that video? About the maple kind dog, I sent it to you..."

"Yep!" Matthew smiled at you. "Maple and bacon! My two favorite things!"

"And added with a dog, one of my favorite things, that should be our theme video or something!" You grinned. You whirled around to face everyone. "Alright, guys! Let's go watch a movie!" You led the way with Alfred right next to you and Arthur sulking in the back with Matthew.

As you skipped through the doorway, you noticed mistletoe on the door. You smirked. 'Nice try, mumsy!' You thought to yourself, although you couldn't help flushing slightly over  
the memory. You waited for an opportunity, and then shouted, "LUDWIG! MALI! LOOK UP!"  
Ludwig and Mali halted from where they were under the doorway and glanced up at the same time. Ludwig turned scarlet and Mali 'eeped' as they noticed what they were standing under. Everyone watched them, sniggering.

"Ve! Kiss her, Luddy!" Feli danced in place with one of your dogs.

"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" Everybody chanted, and Ludwig was flushing again.

"N-nein...ist...nein..." He was cut off as Mali took the initiative and kissed him.

"YAY!" The collective cry came from the group, and there was a flash as your mom took a picture.

"This is going to be interesting," You grinned to yourself, and led the way downstairs. As you walked across the house, several times, you stopped and yelled at various people to kiss. This included Gwyn and Gilbert, who did so willingly, Mali and Ludwig again, Francis and Piper, where Piper didn't look as willing as last time, and Dakota and Heracles. 

Finally, you went under the last door, and someone shouted. 

"Hey ______! Alfred! LOOK UP!" 

Gulping, you looked up, and lo and behold was the mistletoe that you had used as a weapon just moments ago. 

"Gladly!" Alfred winked and pulled you over, kissing you cheerfully.

Now, Arthur's brows furrowed, his emerald-green eyes darkened, his teeth gritted, fists clenched, and he shouted. "STOP!"

Alfred pulled away. "Whoa, it's the British dude! Does he like you, dudette?" He looked at you curiously.

You were suddenly a little resentful of Arthur never speaking up. "If he does, this is the first time he's said anything," You said dryly.

"Well, I'm saying something now, aren't I?" Arthur demanded, and pulled you out of Alfred's arms and kissed you furiously.

You staggered back, startled by the sudden strength in which he pulled you forward, but you didn't protest. He got gentler, and pulled away.

"Do I really have to say anything, luv?" He asked you gently.

You stared at him, eyes still wide in shock. Just when everyone thought you would fall  
immediately, you suddenly turned and bolted.

"Whoa, Arty, are you that bad a kisser?" Alfred commented.

"Be nice, Al," Matthew said softly, smiling to himself. His plan had worked.

Arthur was still in shock. "She...ran..." He muttered, brow furrowing again.

For a moment, everything was quiet. Then the entire group said collectively:

"GO AFTER HER YOU STUPID REDCOAT!" and shoved him in the direction you ran.

He stumbled forward, but didn't look back as he took off after you.

Everything went quiet for a moment, before Alfred grinned. "That was my plan all along! After all, I'm the freaking hero!"

"I freaking love you," Piper replied.

Meanwhile, your mom had recorded the whole incident, smiling to herself. She couldn't wait to show this to you in front of the whole family. 

*****************

You had gone upstairs and curled up on your bed, shaking with shock. Arthur genuinely LIKED you? Enough to kiss you like that?! It was all too much to take in. You started rocking back and forth, squealing into a pillow.

Arthur stopped at the bottom of the stairs to your attic lair. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, heavily, before walking quietly up the stairs. He found you rocking back and forth, and smiled to himself vaguely.

"_______?" He said gently.

You whipped your head up, looking at him suspiciously. "Hm?"

He came in and sat down on your bed next to you. "I'm sorry I sprung that on you, I wasn't thinking and..." He trailed off, staring at his hands awkwardly.

You watched him for a moment, head tipped thoughtfully. All of a sudden, on a whim, you tackled Arthur, knocking him over.

"_-_______!" He stuttered, peering up at you. "Wh-what..."

You grinned at him. "Stupid! It's about time you said something!" This time, you bent over and kissed him.

Arthur's eyes widened in surprise, but he relaxed and hugged you tightly. 'Finally' He thought to himself.

***********

When you two came back downstairs, much more smiley than you did before, you were surprised to see several couples more than there had been before.  
Gwyn and Gilbert were sitting on the couch, with Gilbert hugging Gwyn tightly. Heracles and Dakota were sleeping on the floor, curled up right next to each other. Ludwig was sitting with Mali leaning against his big frame comfortably. Both the Vargas brothers were sleeping, and Francis had picked up one of your other friends, much to your disgust. Much to your surprise, Alfred was sitting in a chair with one arm slung around Piper.

"Hey dude! Have FUN?" He asked, waving at you.

Arthur flushed, but you managed to control it. "Yes! I did!" You replied back, causing Arthur to turn even more red.

"Ha! He looks like a lobster!" Piper commented, snickering. 

Arthur was about to snap back a reply, but she finished, adding.

"He's a HAPPY LOBSTER."

Arthur opened his mouth, then closed it again with a smile. "Thank you, Piper."

She snorted. "Whatever."

You and Arthur exchanged a grin and sat down on the floor to watch the Avengers. 

"Tis the season!" You sang cheerfully, grinning at all of your friends.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SO MUCH FLUFF [flails]   
> Oh my god, I was so overwhelmed with fangirlingness when I was writing this o.o  
> BUT NEVER FEAR! Your troubles aren't over! >D Muahaha. Now I have to plot the next part...Maybe something to do with Denmark...? >3

Of course, being you, despite now actually dating, you and Arthur were still constantly bickering over little things. Of course now, it usually wound up with you winning consistently quicker as you ended it by kissing him and running. This still managed to leave him speechless, despite this becoming a common occurrence.

You made a rather cheeky girlfriend, and you constantly said things that made him turn scarlet. One such instance was after class one day...

You were walking down the hall with Alfred, Arthur and Piper. Alfred and Matthew had transferred into the school after their parents moved closer so they could come to your house more often.

You were saying something about Arthur, teasing him, and he flushed. "You git, why can't you leave me alone?"

"That's not what you said last night!" You winked at him, causing him to blush brilliantly.

"Arty, you sly dog!" Alfred laughed.

Arthur clenched his teeth, starting to get exasperated. "_____, I-"

You cut him off by slipping your hand into his. "I'm sorry, the temptation was too much." You apologized sincerely. Not like you were intending to stop.

His expression softened, and he glanced away, gripping your hand tighter. "Whatever."  
Events like this. However, your whole world flipped upside down when a new student came in later. One that had the exact same schedule as you, a contagious laugh, and an airheaded-ness that made Alfred look smarter than Albert Einstein.

He was Spanish, and his name was Antonio Fernandez Carriedo.

In a course of two weeks, you two quickly became best friends. Now, as you may imagine,   
Arthur was not very happy about this. However, since Antonio didn't actually kiss you or anything like that, he withheld his jealousy.

One day, however, Arthur walked in on Antonio greeting you with kisses on both cheeks, which was a customary thing where he was from. Arthur, to say the least, got extremely pissed.

"_____!" He shouted furiously, startling you both. 

"Hey, Arthur!" You tipped your head, puzzled. "What's up?"

"What's...?" He trailed off, looking furious. So furious that, startled, you backed away from him unconsciously. 

He grabbed Antonio by the front of his shirt. "Alright, Spaniard, what do you think you're doing?"

"Being held up by my shirt, amigo." Antonio asked, looking uncomfortable. "Can you put me   
down, por favor?"

Arthur snarled. "Answer my question!"

Now Arthur's expression was really starting to scare you. This was horribly out of character for him, and this drastic change made you wonder how many sides this guy had to him.

Making your mind up quickly, you strode back over to Arthur and grabbed his wrist, eyes narrowing. "Arthur. PUT. HIM. DOWN."

Now you, in Arthur's eyes, were the one who was acting drastically out of character. His eyes widened, but he dropped the Spaniard. 

Antonio fell back onto his feet, massaging his neck. "Ow...thank you, bella."

"You alright, Toni?" You asked, concerned.

"Si, si. I'm fine. But what's with Artur?" He looked at Arthur, who shifted uncomfortably.   
"It's almost like he's jealous or something."

For once, the totally oblivious Spaniard hit the nail on the head, as proven by Arthur looking away to not let you see his slightly red face.

"Mein gott," You whistled softly. You reached out to Arthur, but he stepped away, still refusing to look at you. "Arty?" You said softly. 

No reply.

"Arthur?"

No reply.

"Mr. Kirkland?"

No reply.

"Harry Notter?"

No reply.

"Magic blue muffin scone?"

To this, he twitched slightly, but still no reply.

He walked out of the classroom, leaving you with a stunned Antonio. 

"What the hell was that, bella?" Antonio asked, looking over at you.

"I...have no idea." You mumbled, still confused. He put his arm around you, squeezing your shoulder. 

"Hey, if Artur ditches you, your amigo Antonio is here for you, vale?" He smiled at you cheerfully. "I'll bring you some tomatoes."

"Thanks, Toni," You smiled back up at him.

*************8

It had been a few weeks since the incident, and Arthur was still refusing to speak to you.   
The only sign that you had been ditched was that he changed your Facebook (since he didn't have one) relationship status to 'single'.

You didn't think it would affect you as much as it did, but truth be told, you were shattered by it. In your opinion, he had overreacted, and had acted like a stupid little jealous child. You were allowed to have friends, after all! And you helped him fend off   
Francis! You went through a list of all the things you two did together, ranting in your journal.

After the first week and initial shock, you managed to convince yourself to calm down. You even dated Antonio for a couple weeks. The Spaniard was very sweet and fun to hang out with, but try as you might, a relationship between the two of you just wasn't meant to be. 

One cold day in February, you woke up, sitting up drowsily. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed a shadow lurking in your doorway. 

"Quien es?" You mumbled, too tired to bother recognizing.

The shadow cleared his throat, and you were startled into being fully awake. "Arthur?" You questioned, voice soft with disbelief.

He stepped into your room, hands fidgeting with some unknown object. "______...I...I'm sorry I was such a stupid git. I shouldn't have gotten as pissed off as I was, and..." He trailed off, the words leaving him. He looked at you with heartbroken green eyes. "I'm so sorry. Will you forgive me, luv?"

You squirmed uncomfortably. What you really wanted to say was 'no!' and recite your journal rant. However, your heart had a different agenda, and you wordlessly nodded, a hoarse whisper leaving your throat.

"Of course I do, stupid."

Arthur smiled hugely. You had never seen such a big smile on this boy's- no, this man's face as the one you saw now. 

"Oh, and ______?"

"Yeah, Arthur?" You looked puzzled.

He picked up your hand and kissed it gently before sliding something on one of your fingers. In an instant, you started panicking.

"Whoa, Arthur, that's not-"

He chuckled at your flustered expression. "No, luv, I'm not proposing to you, don't worry." Though, in the back of his mind, he hoped he would one day. "This is a promise ring."

You hesitated. You had heard of various definitions of a promise ring. Sometimes it meant one was promising they would marry you. Other times it meant someone was literally promising something. You seriously weren't sure which was better. "A promise of what?" You asked suspiciously.

He smiled. "A promise that nothing like this incident will happen again. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I can stand that kind of lifestyle anymore." He frowned.   
"Although, you did date Antonio..."

"Not for long," You muttered, chuckling as you recalled the second reason why that didn't work out. You turned to Arthur, smiling back. "Thank you, Arthur. This means a lot." You leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

He was honestly surprised at how un-sarcastic you were being, and was startled even more out of his zoning as you kissed him. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed that until this second.

He crawled under your blankets with you, hiding from the cold with your warm blankets and body heat. He kissed your forehead. "Happy Valentine's Day, luv." He said softly. 

 

******************************

Later on that week when you and Arthur walked into school, you saw Antonio holding hands with Lovino, laughing cheerfully and pulling the very-much embarrassed Italian after him.

You and Arthur exchanged a glance, and Arthur burst out laughing.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I got it up sooner than I expected to!  
> Sorry for the delay, guys, I've been under a lot of stress from school lately owo So many college level courses among other things are driving me crazy, mainly Algebra II/Trig I CAN'T DO IT.
> 
> Anyway, so my friends read this story now, even my anti-England best friend who this chapter is dedicated to. One of these friends (who is also my wife) reminded me that I had introduced the idea of my "best friend" in the first chapter! Le gasp! I had forgotten! So I used that to write another chapter! NO FLUFF HERE! xD  
> Sorry if you were looking for fluff- I just felt like it was getting too fluffy, so I wanted to put something that helped remind readers of how cool they are! :3

So, it was one of those days where your parents went out on a date night, leaving the kids at home. Jack was gone, however, to work on a project (good for him!), so it was just you, Bailey, Arthur...and Piper!

Piper had come over to your house for a sleepover, much to Arthur's chagrin. He had made it a habit to come up to your room and either talk till the early hours or just stay there in general.

You were all watching Captain America, exclaiming over how awesome he was while Arthur grumbled criticism under his breath, mainly because you were talking about how beautiful Steve Rogers was. It was in the last scene when you heard the dogs start barking, very loudly and nonstop, before there was a whine.

You stood up, suddenly alert. "Guys..."

Everyone else stood up as well. Piper straightened her cowboy hat. All of you crept quietly towards the kitchen. You halted and motioned for everyone to stop. Then, you crept in and staggered back in shock.

It was your 'best friend', otherwise known as your criminally inclined neighbor, and three of his friends. 

Gulping, you shrunk back. You held up four fingers and mouthed "four!" in case they didn't get the idea. All of you exchanged looks. You knew that at least you, Bailey and Piper had at least some knowledge on how to fight (mainly because you all took karate), but you looked at Arthur quizzically. He looked more concerned for you than himself, so you took that as him being able to defend himself.

You ducked into the kitchen and, without another thought, attacked your "best friend" with a spinning hook kick that sent him gasping for breath and clutching his stomach. The rest of your friends dashed in behind you, fanning out. Your best friend stood up, glaring. All of them dropped their bags, which you noted had your silverware, among other things, in them. 

Then they did something scary. They took out knives. 

You gulped and started to back away. You knew what would work against what, and your martial arts against a knife would not end well. However, they all rushed you, and you ducked out of the way of your best friend. 

"Fuck!" You swore, avoiding the knife, but it sliced open your jeans as you roundhouse kicked his ribcage.

You glanced down at your calf, wear the said cut was. Luckily, your jeans had shielded most of the knife, so you were only left with a shallow cut that nonetheless was messy.   
However, checking was your mistake. While you did this, your best friend sent a right hook   
into your jaw, which you rolled off slightly, but not quickly enough. Now it became an all-out fistfight. Thank God for martial arts.

 

PIPER'S POV:

"Fucking butts!" She yelled as she punched her opponent's eye. He staggered back, holding his eye. Piper took a second to look over at you. For a blackbelt, you sure were injured more than the rest of them. 

"KICK HIS ASS, STUPID LOBSTER!" She yelled in her own encouragingly insulting way.   
She went back to fighting this guy, who sliced her bare arm with his knife before she was fully alert. 

She screamed in pain, and without a second thought, chopped his neck. Than she ran out of the room, dialing a number on the phone.

"I need help!"

 

BAILEY'S POV:

Bailey was now in the worst position possible. She had been tripped, and was now on the   
floor with her back turned. She somersaulted backwards, jumping to her feet and facing her enemy, breathing heavily. He was wearing a mask, but she couldn't help feeling he looked familiar somehow. 

As she punched his solar plexus- a little area she had learned of in karate that was right below your ribs and could easily knock the breath out of someone- she heard his voice and was shocked out of her mind. It was her ex boyfriend, who she thought she had thrown off a year ago!

Now she was really pissed. She hammered on him harder than before, knowing all of his weak spots and taking full advantage of this knowledge.

 

ARTHUR'S POV:

Arthur gritted his teeth. Growing up as the youngest among four brothers had given him plenty of insight on how to fight dirty.

Apparently, there were more dirty tricks used in the United States than he thought. He ducked, avoiding a punch, and swung a kick around, hitting the back of his knee, the   
Charlie horse that everyone always complained about. 

It worked! The guy crumpled, and Arthur now hammer-fisted his head and knocked him out quickly. He whirled around, looking at everybody, but searching and panicking the most for you.

Piper had disappeared, leaving the guy she was fighting behind. Apparently the neck chop had done little to him, as he had gotten up, and now you were fighting both of them, getting more and more beat up by the second. You kept moving, trying to get them lined up to fight them one at a time, but it wasn't working.

Arthur gritted his teeth and dashed over, but a black blur made it there before him. Your dog had recovered from whatever had silenced him before, and had now latched onto one of your attacker's legs, snarling viciously. 

Arthur rushed over and kicked the same person, who was about to beat your dog, right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. 

The person glowered, and then punched Arthur squarely in the solar plexus. Arthur crumbled, his mind going black as he struggled to warn you.

"___!" Was all he could say before he passed out.

 

YOUR POV

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Arthur crumbled, and you cried out, "Arthur!"   
But before you could do anything, you got another punch that dislocated your shoulder, and you hissed in pain, gritting your teeth. 

"Stupid _______, taking on two of us at once," Your best friend gripped you by the color, whispering in your ear. You shuddered, struggling to keep up your death glare under the fear that now was finally striking you.

You were about to give up hope when suddenly your assailant was knocked down to the ground with a baseball bat. A baseball bat with nails in it. 

You gulped again. Who had come now? Who was possibly-

"Hey, ______ dude! Are you alright?" Alfred's voice shoved its way into your panicked   
thoughts, and you looked up immediately, face relaxing with relief. 

"Al!" You said wearily.

"Whoa, calm down, dude," Alfred's eyes widened in concern and he set you down on the ground next to the passed out Arthur, who was leaning against the fridge.

You immediately turned over, tugging at Arthur's shirt. "Arthur, Arthur, wake up!"  
Bailey crawled over to you two as well. Arthur blinked his weary green eyes open. "_-  
____?" He questioned.

"Oh, thank god," You breathed, hugging him. 

Suddenly, you realized something and turned around slowly to face Piper. "Piper..."

"Yeah, ______?"

"...why did you call Alfred and not the police?"

"BECAUSE I AM THE FUCKING HERO!" Alfred cheered.

And so, Alfred was the hero.

*************

A few days later, when you all got back to school, Piper was excitedly describing the fight. "...and then I roadhouse kicked him!"

"Piper, isn't it roundhouse?"

"I ROADHOUSE KICKED HIM, DAMMIT!" Piper insisted, and Arthur passed by, trying to avoid notice. "Like this!" She roundhouse kicked him in the side.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" He demanded, nursing his side while at the same time trying not to blush while you pulled up his shirt to see if there was any damage.

"I DON'T LIKE YOUR FACE!" Piper answered immediately and walked away.

 

*This chapter is dedicated to the real-life Piper, who is my anti-England best friend who yet still reads this story. Many of these events are in appreciation of that.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woot! New chapter! Man, I made this so fluffy xD  
> AND LEFT YOU WITH A SORT OF CLIFFHANGER. Sort of.  
> So. Um. Yeah. You went on a date.
> 
> ISN'T IT GREAT? Heh. Awkward positions.  
> Wow, I made Reader really annoying this time XD it must be because I'm all giddy right now.  
> Just out of curiosity, do you guys prefer fluffy love or more fun activities in this? owo I'm trying to figure out what to do for the next chapter.

You were sitting in your living room, zoning off while planning some future event that would most likely annoy the hell out of your poor boyfriend for April Fool's Day. This was when, not for the first time in ten minutes either, Arthur cleared his throat and waved his hand in front of your face. 

"______?" He snapped his fingers, finally startling you out of your absent expression.

"Eh, wot?" You blinked, turning to peer at him. "What's up?"

"______, luv, you've been staring at me for a long time and it's rather unnerving." He rolled his eyes.

You turned a little red. "That's awkward...I hate when that happens. I was zoning out, sorry, not staring at your lovely face."

"Thanks for the backwards compliment," He replied dryly. "Anyway, luv, I was thinking..."

"That's dangerous," You commented dryly.

He glared at you. "Let me finish, please." 

You gestured for him to continue with a smug little smile.

"Anyway," He looked at you, clearly expecting you to interrupt. Your smile just widened a little more in such an Ivan-esque way that it was fairly creepy. "Anyway..."

"You've already said that, Arty. Three times." You interrupted him, chuckling. "Just get to the point."

Arty turned red. "Well, I've realized that we've been dating for three months or so and we haven't actually been out on a date."

You put on a thoughtful expression. "Now there we have a very good point, mon ami!" You hid a grin as Arthur gritted his teeth at the use of your French expression. 

"So, I was thinking, do you possibly want to go out on a date?" His voice broke slightly at the last word, and his green eyes couldn't disguise the glint of hope that lingered there.

"Sure," You replied, grinning. "But first thing's first, Arty..."

"What?" Now he looked downright suspicious.

You waved your hand at him. "Relax. It's nothing bad. I'm just curious." You nodded at his notebook. The very same notebook you had interrogated him about months ago. "What's in that?"

Arthur opened his mouth, and while he did, you snatched it. "Hey!" He protested, panicking and blushing.

You flipped it over quickly, opening to the "first page" and pretended to read the empty lines.

"______! I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" He grabbed for the notebook.

"Right now?"

"Yes!"

"Promise?"

"Yes!"

You handed it to him, open to the page you had been "reading". He looked from the empty   
page to you and back to the page again. "Why, you little..."

"Arthur, have you ever been told you're easy to manipulate?" You questioned with a smile.

"Only by you, luv," He replied, kissing your forehead.

"So, you going to tell me now? After all, you promised," You leaned back in your chair,   
smirking a little at your ingenuity.

Arthur sighed and looked around the room, where he was convinced there were little microphones or cameras that your mom had set up. Your mom was rather obsessive over documenting your whole relationship, going as far as to ask for interviews with you guys.   
You two kind of just went with it. "Can I tell you on our date?"

You raised an eyebrow. "Alright, but I'll hold you to that."

**************

You and Arthur had gone to the park. Such a typical, cliché place for a date, but hey! Who's complaining?

You noticed little things Arthur did out of the corner of your eye, such as amusing himself by puffing out little clouds of warm air, or running his hand awkwardly through his hair, and then his hand closest to you twitching. You grinned and grabbed his hand. 

"Come on, Awkward Turtle! What's with you?" You laughed at his startled expression. "How is holding hands more awkward than kissing? I mean, on one hand, you're keeping someone's hand warm, and then on the other-"

He somehow managed to shut you up just by squeezing your hand and flashing you a gentle smile. 

You stayed quiet for another two minutes until you two sat down on a bench. "So, you going to tell me, Mr. Big Secret?"

Arthur blushed. Now, he hadn't done this in a while. He had gotten used to you embarrassing him, so you figured this really was something embarrassing. Either that, or something really sweet, in an awkward kind of way.

"Well, you remember when I first came here? How your siblings and I had a bet?"

"Oh yeah, about you figuring me out? How's that going, by the way?"

"That one, and not as well as one would think." 

"You can't just know someone physically to know them mentally," You said in a sing-song voice, watching happily as he turned red again.

"Stop that, it makes it sound like you're implying that we-"

"Slept together? Well we did."

"Wait, when was-"

"Yup, we slept, and you talk in your sleep."

He was getting redder and redder by the moment. "_____, can I finish?"

You had almost forgotten his story. "Whoops. Sorry, continue."

He regarded you for a moment, as if checking to see whether you would interrupt. When you didn't, he continued. "Well, that notebook was full of observations about you, so I could try and put the pieces together and understand you."

"I'm starting to feel like a science experiment," You huffed. "So what's so embarrassing about that? You know, except for the whole watching me thing?"

Arthur cleared his throat. "Well. Sometimes I said things like 'she's being stupidly sarcastic today' or 'she's much quieter at school'. But then other times..." He just pulled the notebook out of his pocket, opened it to a folded page, and handed it to you.

 

"God, she's infuriating," You read, "But even then, more often than not, I just want to scream to the whole world how much I love ______." You closed it and smiled at him. "I love you too, Arty. I don't think I've ever said it out loud, but you knew...right?"

Arthur smiled and pulled you over against his side. "Of course I did, luv," He kissed your forehead gently. 

You two sat like that for a while, enjoying the exceptionally long moment, when Arthur stood up. "We should head back. It's getting late."

You agreed. You stood up, and promptly tripped, knocking Arthur over. You two stared at each other, nose to nose. You could feel each other's heart racing. You were in what would normally be considered a very awkward position, but you two had pretty much just confessed your undying love for each other. Was it really that awkward?


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY HAVE IT DONE   
> So, yup. Your martial arts class! YES I KNOW KARATE ISN'T CHINESE. But I'm saving Kiku for later ;3  
> So. Um. Yeah. HOPE YOU LIKE IT.  
> More humor than fluff this time ^^;

…yes, it was very awkward.

So, quick as you could, you both scrambled to your feet again, flushed in embarrassment.   
“Well then…” You coughed. “Shall we head back?”

“So we shall,” Arthur replied sheepishly, and the two of you went back to your house, leaving the way-too-cliché park.

*************

That night, you surprised Arthur by pulling on a white uniform and tying a black belt around your waist.

“Where are you going?” He asked, confused.

You whirled around to stare at him, eyes widened incredulously. “Are you freaking kidding me?” You demanded. 

“Well, it looks like you’re going to some martial arts-“ Arthur broke off, shifting uncomfortably.

“Let me get this straight…” You said slowly. “You have been living in this house for…more than six months…and you had no idea I went to karate classes?!”

“Um…no, no I didn’t.” Arthur shook his head.

“Oh my god, how is that…” You palmed your forehead. “Where do you think I was coming from when I came back home with bruises and soaked with sweat?”

“Uh-“

“On second thought, please don’t answer that,” You groaned. “But yes, I’m a black belt in karate.”

“You should come!” Bailey chimed.

“Oh, yeah! I’m sure Piper will be especially pleased to see you!” You grinned devilishly.  
Arthur watched you warily, weighing these decisions in his mind. “Alright, I’ll go,” He answered, not surprisingly.

“If this is puppy love,” Bailey muttered, “Arthur’s the puppy.”

“Shut up!” Arthur flushed in embarrassment.

“Bailey, it’s my job to make him blush!” You exchanged a grin with your sister, high fiving her epically. “Hey, is Jack coming?”

“Nah, he’s back to football. He’s going to stay a green belt forever because of that, you know.” Bailey shrugged, tying her purple belt.

“Well, you advanced, even with volleyball.” You pointed out.

“He’s lazier than me,” Bailey replied reasonably, and looked over at Arthur. “Hey, you might want to change your clothes if you’re coming with us.”

“Oh, he’s participating? I thought he was just watching,” You sounded surprised. “He fights dirty, after all.”

“What do you expect? I’m the second youngest in a family of…” He stopped to count on his fingers. “Six. Six siblings including me.”

“You have siblings?” You blinked.

Now it was his turn to look incredulous. “I thought I told you this.”

“Nyet, you have rarely told me anything.” You replied, shaking your head.

“Well, I’ll tell you in the car.” Arthur hurried upstairs.

“Nice boyfriend you got there, sis,” Bailey snickered.

“He certainly is,” You muttered, ignoring the sarcasm.

Arthur returned in about a minute, and you had the car keys already, since you were driving. 

“Shotgun!” Bailey yelped, climbing into the front seat. Arthur grumbled, but grudgingly sat in the back.

“So, Arthur,” You began pleasantly. “Tell us about yourself.”

You could almost feel him giving you the stink eye. “I have a lot of siblings.” He began,   
so slowly, you could almost feel him telling you to interrupt.

“So you’ve mentioned!” You replied cheerily.

Bailey giggled and Arthur glared. As was the usual way of things. “I have three older brothers, a sister, and a younger brother. We all live with our mum.” He explained. “My brothers are Allistor, Drew, and Rory, my sister is Rosie, and my younger brother is Peter.”

“Yeesh, you have a big family…” You muttered, pulling into the parking lot. You noticed that he didn’t mention a father, but you were tactful enough to not mention it.

“Okay guys! Andiamo!” You parked the car and hurried into the building.

“HEY _______!” You got a belt thrown in your face the second you walked in the door. 

You caught it like the ninja you are and hurled it back at Piper. “Hey, Piper!” You grinned cheerfully at her.

“Aw, fuck it, you brought the jerky limey with you?” Piper scowled. “Do you have to bring him everywhere?”

”He’s a puppy!” Bailey chimed. 

“Shut up!” Arthur flushed again, staring at the ground.

Piper fixed you with a hard glare. “You know, if he starts to intrude on more of our activities, I’m gonna ask you to choose.”

You felt a chill go down your spine. “Please don’t,” You murmured softly.   
Piper rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She suddenly grinned. “You know I’m officially dating Alfred, right?”

“I thought you guys were officially dating like…January.” You snorted.

“Yeah, well. NOW IT’S FACEBOOK OFFICIAL.” 

The instructor, Yao Wang, clapped his hands. “Alright, aru! Let’s get started!”

You stood at your spot as the third highest-ranking student in the class. You all bowed to Yao, and then started stretching. Midstretch, Yao came over to you. “Is he your doing, aru? He whispered. He was a slight, Chinese man with black hair tied back and looked much younger than he was.

You chuckled. “Yeah, he’s the exchange student at my house,” You explained. “Bailey and I brought him this time.”

“I see, aru,” He straightened up. “Alright, aru! ______ will lead basics!”

You made a face at him when you thought his back was turned.

“Ten push-ups, aru!”

You scowled and fell to the ground, doing the push ups and glaring at a snickering Piper. You stood up and clapped your hands. “Straighten your uniforms! Turn around!” You ordered. This was one place where your leadership skills excelled. “Middle target punch! Ichi! Ni! San!” You counted off in Japanese, and suddenly remembered Arthur. “Bailey, show Arthur what to do,” You ordered.

“Alrighty,” Bailey replied. 

“Switch spots with Amy!” You added. “Now, middle target punch again! Ichi, ni, san!”

You counted off and did the rest of the basics, and let the class go to break. You grinned at Yao. “Good?”

“Good, aru,” he nodded approvingly. “Can you take Arthur to work on his basics?”

You glanced at Arthur, who was standing awkwardly while Piper yelled at him. “Yeesh, he’s such an awkward turtle…” You mumbled, walking over without arguing for once (you don’t like push-ups).

“Hey, Arthur!” You poked him in the back. “I’m teaching you basics again. Allons-y,” You tugged his short sleeve and dragged him with you to the back room.

You ran him through his basics without conversation. You got exceptionally serious in karate, and having Arthur in that class wasn’t about to make you stop acting so.

You let him break, and stood next to him while he breathed heavily, bent over. ‘You alright?” You asked, finally letting some concern penetrate your tone.

“No!” He scowled at you, standing upright. “Why didn’t you say you were a drill sergeant?” 

You grinned. “That takes out all the fun! It certainly shows who’s wearing the pants in this relationship!”

Arthur, shockingly, didn’t blush, but rather raised an eyebrow, a sly smile crossing his face. “You sure about that, luv?”

“Absolutely,” You smirked. “You try to change my mind, and you get push-ups.”

He looked amused, and kissed you anyway. Luckily, nobody walked in on you, but Arthur still got to do push-ups either way.

******************

“Alright, aru!” Yao announced. “Time for sparring!”

You silently cheered to yourself. 

“Everyone find a partner!”

You, Bailey and Piper all exchanged a look. You all wanted to be the first to beat the snot out of Arthur. You played rock paper scissors, mumbling to yourselves in a little huddle, and Piper came out the victor. You wound up sparring Bailey while Piper stood in front of Arthur, making such a smug, satisfied face you’d think she was about to beat up her worst enemy. Oh yeah, she was.

“Go!” Yao jumped, stamping his feet on the ground.

You jumped at Bailey, throwing a roundhouse kick immediately.

“Hey, _____?” She asked as you sparred.

“Yeah?”

“Can we agree to spar slowly so we can watch those two?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” You grinned. You two slowed down your sparring speed considerably and watched Piper throw a roundhouse kick at Arthur, which she really seemed to like doing, and then hit him in the stomach.

“Time! Switch partners!” Yao announced. You and Piper shifted, exchanging a high-five as you did.

You stood in front of Arthur, a grin crossing your face. “Having fun yet?”

“Tons,” he rolled his eyes, getting into the stance.

“Begin!” Yao started the timer for the fight. 

You jumped at him with a sidekick this time and stopped just before you hit him. “You’re supposed to block that,” You criticized. “Keep your arms up at all times. One blocking your chest and stomach, the other blocking your face.”

Arthur shifted his position. “Like this?”

“Yeah,” You nodded. “Now I can beat you up without regrets.” You started throwing kicks at him. Kick after kick after kick. Kicking was your specialty, in case you didn’t notice. 

Most of them he blocked, but his arm was getting bruised from blocking, and he got hit in the stomach a couple times.

“Done!” Yao announced. “Switch!” You smiled at Arthur and mouthed ‘later’ to him. He chuckled softly and got ready for the next fight.

You all went through the rest of your class quickly, finishing with self-defense techniques. As you ended the class, you gathered your water bottle and bag, and joined Bailey and Piper.

“Hey, ______ can I have a ride home?” Piper wheedled.

“Don’t you have a car?” You sighed.

“I got a ride this time. And my mom’s sleeping.” She started pawing your arm.

“Mein gott, you’re acting exactly like Alfred,” You snorted. “Sure, whatever.”

“YAY ROAD TRIP!” She skipped out to your car before the rest of you. 

“Bye, Yao!” You waved to your instructor and you, Bailey and Arthur left as well. 

Piper was sitting in the front seat already, squirming impatiently. “Hey, guys, I’m gonna drop you off and then take Piper,” You informed them.

“Sure,” Bailey shrugged.

“Whatever,” Arthur muttered, staring out the window resentfully. You knew he was upset over all the bruises you gave him, but you’d make up for it later.

You dropped off Arthur and Bailey, and turned to go drop Piper off. 

“So, ______...” Piper trailed off. “About the whole limey thing…”

“Yeah?” You kept your eyes fixed on the road, but you were listening intently.

“You’re still putting us first, right?”

You blinked, offended. “Of course!” You protested. “I make a point to do that!”

Piper nodded. “Because no boys can break up the inseperable duo, right?!”

“YEAH!” You grinned. “So…how’s Alfred?”

“OHMYGOD.” Piper went on a long rant about how awesome Alfred is for the rest of the car ride, leaving you to smile and occasionally agree on some things, but argue others.

“Bye, ______!” Piper waved and skipped to her door, which was opened by Ludwig. Odd, you had completely forgotten Ludwig was staying at her house.

You waved to Ludwig, who waved back, and turned out of her driveway and went back home.   
You took a shower, completely exhausted, and crawled into bed.

Sure enough, not too long later, you felt Arthur crawl in next to you. “Well?” He whispered. “Don’t I get some form of apology for beating up on me?”

You laughed and leaned your forehead against his, smiling. “I’m sorry for leaving bruises.”

“Do you have to say it in such a suggestive way?” He demanded.

You grinned slyly. “Well, we are in bed together…”

You felt him turn red. “Stop it!”

You chuckled and kissed him. “Told you I’m the one wearing the pants here.”

To your shock, his arm circled you and dragged you over. “I beg to differ, luv,” He replied in a murmur, kissing you.

You were shocked into silence, but laughed again and fell asleep quickly.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is~ Heh. I have another part ready. I'll post it soon~ 
> 
> APRIL FOOLS' DAY IS HERE. Well, at least in the story [shrug] I AM VERY AMUSED WRITING THIS

Today was March thirty first, and you were lazing in bed with a guitar, a smile crossing your face as you picked up your phone, glancing at the text you had received. Your smiled turned into an evil grin. It was time to get to work.

You slipped out of bed and rubbed your hands. This was going to be too fun.

 

**********

 

The next morning, you woke up, not at all surprised to find Arthur absent. You rubbed your hands. Now was time for the fun to start.

April First: AKA, April Fools’ Day, was upon you.

You got dressed quickly, wearing a t-shirt you had decorated with your friends earlier that said “YOUR FACE” on it in big letters. You grabbed your backpack and hurried downstairs, smiling in amusement to yourself.

You skidded to a halt as you almost collided with Jack. “Yo, Jack!” You grinned at him.   
“You ready for this?” Your brother had been in on all your plans, and you exchanged a high-five. 

“Hell yeah!” He straightened his baseball cap and the two of you went downstairs to see Arthur and Bailey already sitting at the table. Bailey looked normal, but then again, that was always the case. You never knew what was going on with her. Arthur, on the other hand, was wearing a bright pink shirt, a purple vest, and a teal bowtie. He was eating a cupcake.

This stopped you and Jack in your paths, and you glanced at each other, suspicion in your eyes. 

“Hey, Arty!” You called from across the room.

Slowly, he turned around with a joker-like grin. “Hello, poppet! Would you like a cupcake?” His blue eyes sparkled with laughter. Wait, blue eyes? You looked suspicious.

“Nah, I’m good without the cupcake. Thanks though.” You went to make an omelette, same as usual, when you heard a giggle right next to your ear. 

“You sure, poppet?” The breath from his whisper sent shivers down your spine, and as an instant reaction, you hammer-fisted his stomach.

“DON’T DO THAT!” You yelled, putting your hands over your ears.

Arthur giggled again. “Come now, poppet. We’ve been much closer than that before, haven’t we?”

Great, now he was the one making sexual innuendos. You rolled your eyes. “You know what, fine. You get to fend for yourself for breakfast.” You went back to your omelette and shivered again as Arthur kissed your neck, tugging on it gently.

When he pulled away, you came to a sudden realization. “Hold on, Arthur, you didn’t-“ You clutched your hand to your neck, turning red. Oh, boy, this day was not going as you planned at all.

Arthur chuckled. “Don’t you dare cover it, poppet.”

Suddenly, your dad crashed into the kitchen. “We’ve had aliens!” He exclaimed, gesturing outside. “Come on!” He grabbed you and Jack and pulled you after him, leaving Arthur and Bailey to follow behind.

You were sincerely glad your dad didn’t notice the goddamn mark Arthur left on your neck. He would go insane. 

You all stood on top of a hill in your yard, staring at the pasture below. “Look!” Your dad said in a hushed voice.

There were crop circles cut into your lawn. To your immense satisfaction, everyone, including Arthur, was staring at it in shock. 

“What the hell?” Jack muttered, and caught your glance. You winked at him, and he grinned. 

“Aliens don’t exist, silly!” Arthur giggled in his new, odd manner.

Your dad looked at him with one raised eyebrow. “I have to ask, Arthur. You’re not gay, are you?”

You doubled over, laughing hysterically. “Oh my god, dad,” You wheezed between laughs.

“Dear me, of course not!” Arthur beamed. 

After a few moments of awkward silence broke by your nonstop laughter, your dad suddenly remembered why he was there. “______! Call the news station, we’ve-“ 

“April Fools, vati!” You grinned. “I did this last night!”

Everyone, save Jack, stared at you in total shock. “You did?” Your dad echoed.

“Yeah!” You started laughing again. 

Your mom came outside. “Who put soap in my toothpaste?!” 

This time, you and Jack high fived each other and continued laughing, wiping tears from your eyes.

“Every year…” Bailey muttered, shaking her head.

 

*********

 

At school, you dragged this strange new Arthur to your group’s regular meeting spot. You halted, eyes widening, to a shocking sight.

Feli was dressed in all black, staring at the floor with a cold look on his face. Lovi on the other hand was smiling and joking with Gwen, who was staring at him in shock. Ludwig was looking rather nervous, with a scar drawn across his face. Alfred and Matthew on the other hand were exchanging mean grins. Arthur’s hair was darker, and his eyes were red. Matthew was actually standing out, and his arms were folded and he looked down at everyone superiorly. Toni was looking downright depressed, and was standing by himself a few feet away from everyone. The only ones missing were Francis, Heracles and Ivan. 

Arthur giggled. “Hello, everyone!” He skipped over to Alfred, linking arms with the American and grinning up at him.

You could only stare with one eyebrow raised. Gwen, Piper, Mali and Dakota all walked over to join you. “So, I take it this is war?” You asked them, gaze continually falling back on Arthur.

“Fuck yeah, it is,” Matthew replied roughly, a lewd grin crossing his face.

“So be it,” You held your chin up as Matthew grabbed your face, forcing you to look at him. 

“We’ll see who the winner is here, mon ami,” He whispered.

For a few moments, it was silent until Arthur pushed his way between. “Come now, poppet, surely there’s no need for a war?” He giggled. “There’s only going to be a massacre! And guess who’s on the losing side? It’s not me, that’s for sure~”

“Shut up, Arty,” Alfred growled. “You keep talking and you’ll give us all away. Why don’t you go get Francis, Heracles and Ivan?”

“With pleasure!” Arty smiled again and waltzed up to you, kissing your neck in the same spot again. “Don’t go getting into any trouble, poppet,” He murmured, pulling back to look at you with mesmerizing blue eyes.

“Shouldn’t I be the one to tell you that?” You replied, keeping your gaze even, but failing to do so with your voice.

He let you go, his smile getting wider. “I don’t think so, poppet. Cheerio!” He blew a kiss to you and dashed away.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heheh. Here's the next chapter. Leaving you with a mini cliff-hanger again! But don't worry, I'm in the zone now, so I'm already writing the last part to April Fools' Day! (Maybe second to last...I dunno yet XD)  
> Anyway, we're getting to the end of this series here. Due to popular vote, I decided to make a second series with the same characters and such. After all, this is an exchange program   
> There's going to be maybe three more chapters, after the next one.

“He’s like the White Rabbit,” You muttered. “And by that, I mean the one in Alice in the Country of Hearts.”

“Oh, Peter White? Yeah, I see what you mean,” Gwen agreed, looking around. “Where’s Gil, though?”

Feli looked up. “Who the fuck is Gil?” He asked slowly, head tipping.

“I think you mean mein bruder, yes?” Ludwig asked quietly, peering over with soft violet eyes.

“Yes…” Gwen answered slowly.

“I don’t know where he is,” He shrugged.

There was a crash against the lockers, and Alfred had Piper pinned, a smirk crossing his face. “You scared?”

“No,” Piper replied promptly. “You’re just fucking weird.”

Alfred chuckled, snaking his hand around Piper. “But you-“

“God, guys! We’re in school!” Mali protested, and Alfred looked up, his red eyes narrowing. 

“So?”

Mali eeped and backed away. “Luddy…” She looked over at him, where he looked up. “Can’t you do something?”

“Me?!” Ludwig looked incredulous. “Vhy vould I vant to get in the vay of somebody as strong as Al is?”

You all stared at him. Usually, he was the one to separate couples when they got too…couple-y. 

Luckily, the bell rang, interrupting all of the arguments, and all the girls huddled together in a discussion. “Okay, they’re acting totally out of character,” Piper said immediately, pointing out the obvious.

“Good job, Pipes,” You rolled your eyes. “Any ideas?”

“Well, the limey has bad fashion taste,” Piper began.

“Shut up!” You shook your head. “Anyone else?”

“Should we act different?” Gwen suggested.

“Whoa, like…us, total opposites too?” Your eyes widened.

“Yeah, exactly!” Mali replied excitedly. “______, I can’t wait to see you acting all girly and stuff!”

“Oh god, someone kill me,” You palmed your head. Suddenly, a bright idea appeared in your mind. “Hey guys…we could cross-dress.”

“Where are we going to get stuff for that?” Dakota demanded. “It’s a little too late for that.”

“True,” You sighed, “Guys’ clothes are much more comfy, though.”

“_____, we all know your preference for guys’ clothes,” Piper snorted. “I say we pretend we’re all gay!”

“No, that’s stupid,” Dakota rolled her eyes. “Those three already pretend they’re married anyway.” She gestured at you, Mali and Gwen.

“_____, you’re cheating on me?” Gwen demanded.

“She’s my secret lover, leave me alone! She’s yours too!” You shot back.

“Will you two be quiet!” Mali demanded. “I’m trying to think…maybe we could all act really seductive, and-“

“No good, Mali, Arthur already did that,” You huffed. 

“Wait, what?” They all stared at you. Suddenly, their eyes fell on the little red mark on your neck. They laughed hysterically. 

“S-shut up!” You turned red, clapping a hand to your neck.

“Wait, that’s it!” Dakota exclaimed. You all turned your gazes to her. “Come here!” She gestured quickly. When you all pulled back, you were all grinning evilly. You’d show them, alright.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next one~ Heheh. The next one will be in a few days x3 This is the end of the subplot for April Fools' Day~

“Do I really have to do this?” Jack complained.

“Oh, shut up,” You growled. “If I have to, you do too!”

“Quit complaining, _____! We did the paper in the hat thing, fair ‘n square!” Dakota smirked. All of them were smirking.

“Okay, so we’re going to walk to the cafeteria…” Piper said slowly, asking for clarification for what must’ve been the tenth time.

“We get in there and do our stuff,” Mali grinned. “Let’s get moving!”

 

********

 

THE GUYS’ POV

They were all sitting at their lunch table. They had momentarily halted their façade to laugh at the girls’ reactions. 

“Oh my god, that was brilliant!” Arthur gasped, laughing hysterically.

“I’ll say! I think they like it,” Alfred held out his fist, which Arthur, shockingly, fist-bumped.

“I don’t know,” Ludwig shrugged. “Mali seemed…ah…creeped out.”

“Then you were doing your job!” Francis beamed. 

“They didn’t even see you!” Arthur hissed.

“No, but they will sooner or later,” Francis smirked, tying his hair back and sticking an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

“U-um…guys…” Matthew gestured to the doorway. 

Immediately, everyone was back to their other behavior, with Arthur trying to force cupcakes down Al’s throat, giggling while doing so. 

Dakota strode in, striding proudly, chin up, with a egotistic glint in her eye that everyone recognized.

“Yo! The awesome me is here!” She declared, plopping down at the table next to Heracles, who looked startled. 

Everyone stared at her, the silence broken by Arty’s insane giggling. 

“What? I know I’m awesome enough to take the words out of people’s mouths, but this is ridiculous!” She started shoveling food in her mouth. “Oh yah, evverone’s comin’ in a minute,” She said through her food.

The guys all turned to the doorway in time to see Gwen walking stiffly in, back straight, hair pulled back neatly. “Stop staring!” She ordered. “Or you all get twenty push-ups!”

Gilbert tugged her sleeve. “U-um…Gwen…” (He’s a Canada in 2P!)

“Ja?” She turned over, one eyebrow raised. “What? Do you want push-ups?”

Gil’s eyes widened.

“Hey, you stupid bastards! Move over, I’m sitting here!” Mali declared, pushing Feli away from Ludwig and sitting next to him. “Dammit, you people are so freaking stupid.”

Ludwig opened his mouth to say something, and she interrupted him abruptly. “What do you want, potato bastard?” She demanded.

Ludwig immediately shut his mouth, pulling down his hat.

None of them had noticed, but Piper had slipped in and was now standing behind Arthur, a smile on her face. “Hallo, Alfred. You want to come and play, da?”

Al tilted his head back, about to answer with a snarky comeback, when he noticed the menacing look behind the smile, and he gulped. “When I have my bat, maybe.” He growled, trying to keep up his act while not being shaken by this.

“Yo guys!” Bailey dashed in, arms stacked with four hamburgers. “You guys got room for the hero or what?!” While everyone stared, now terrified, she laughed obnoxiously. “Of course you do! I AM the hero, after all!” She sat down and started eating the burgers quickly, pulling out a bottle of soda and slurping it loudly.

They were all looking towards the door now, scared of what was next. ‘Next’ came in the form of Jack, running over to the table with tears in his eyes. “Ve! Gwenn! All those people are mean and scary! And Pooky scratched me!” He flung himself at Gwen, clutching a white flag.

“Oh my God, you dummkopf, how many times have I told you to put pants on?!” She demanded, pushing him off.

“Oh…sorry! I was in a hurry!” He pulled his pants out of his backpack and put them on over his shorts.

While all this was going on, the whole cafeteria was staring, watching this like it was a new hit show on MTV.

“Yo, Jack!” Bailey asked with her mouth full, “Where’s ______?”

Arthur held his breath, somehow still trying to force his cupcakes on everyone.

“Oh! She’s in the back hall doing something with some guy!” Jack replied cheerfully.

Everyone went dead silent. Arthur was about to stand up when you waltzed into the room. 

“Bonjour!” You greeted everyone with a loose smile, brushing your (h/c) hair out of your face dramatically. “I’m sure you all missed the tres bien moi!” Out of the corner of your eye, you saw some random guy walk in. "Merci, monsieur!" You called, making it sound like he was the guy you had supposedly been doing stuff with. You sat down at the table. You noticed people staring at you and blew a kiss at them.

To your surprise, some random guy walked up to you and asked for your number. You winked and replied, “Only if you give me your heart, mon cheri.” He left, stunned.

You smiled down at your line of companions. “Did I miss anything, mon ami?”

“You missed me being awesome!”

“Nothing at all, other than Jack being a dummkopf.”

“Nothing! Now go away, you sex freak!”

You pouted. “That’s not nice, Mali!”

“You rape people!” 

“It’s not rape if they like it, right Arty?” You blew a kiss to him with a smile.

He giggled. “If you say so, poppet! Fancy a cupcake?”

“Moi? Accept English cooking? You must be kidding me!” You raised an eyebrow. You touched your forehead to his, a gesture he was very familiar with. “Why don’t we take this somewhere else, hm?”

“Hey, you two! This is school, not a bedroom!” Gwen threw a tater tot at you.

Shockingly, Heracles was the one who cracked. “I’m out,” He said quietly. “I’m going to take a nap with my cats…”

The guys stared at him with betrayal clear in their eyes. Heracles was supposed to be an outgoing, yet aggressive dog-lover. 

Not surprisingly, Dakota was quick to follow, dropping her egomaniac act to follow him. After that, everyone stared at each other awkwardly. Matthew was rapidly fading away, Gilbert was rapidly sharpening, and soon enough, everyone sighed collectively. This was exhausting, after all.

Francis walked over to you. “_____, mon ami, you did a tres bien impression of moi,” He winked at you.

“Shut the fuck up,” You replied, happy to be yourself again. Frankly, being Francis, though amusing, was unnerving. 

“God! I’m glad I don’t have to be Felicianno anymore!” Jackson heaved a sigh. “Do you know how hard that was?!”

“Ja,” Ludwig said gravely. “I applaud you on accuracy. Out of all of us though…” Everyone followed his gaze to Arthur. “I never thought he vould be the one so into it.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow. “With all the Jack the Ripper movies I watch, you really think I couldn’t pull it off?”

“Zat is true!” Gilbert grinned, slinging an arm around Gwen’s shoulder. “Mein gott! Gwen you were so Ludwig-y!”

“Ja, I know!” Gwen laughed. “And Piper! Your Ivan impression…!”

“I know, I’m fantastic!” Piper immediately replied, beaming up at Alfred. 

“I don’t think I am like that. Do you, sunflower?” Ivan asked, looking over at you.

“Not to me,” You replied promptly. 

“I was thinking so,” He started to do the creeper smile that he was known for, when Alfred cut him off. “Dude! Did you guys see Mattie?! He was so badass!” He started looking around. “Where’d he go, anyway?”

“I’m right here, Al…” Mattie sighed.

“D’aw, Mattie!” You hugged him. “You should dump maple syrup on him while he’s sleeping!”

“I might,” Matthew looked at Alfred, who seemed to be short of hearing. “It’s a good idea, plus it’s still April Fools’ Day…”

“Have fun!” You grinned.

“Are you done with your pranks, _____?” Arthur stole your attention again.

“Come on, even if I answered, would you believe me?” A playful smile crossed your face as (e/c) eyes danced in amusement.

“Probably not,” He admitted, a smirk crossing his face as he pulled you closer and went to kiss you.

“HEY VE ARE IN SCHOOL!” Ludwig konked Arthur on the head.

“Aw, come on, Ludwig, you’re such a cockblocker.” Alfred pouted. “And you have a girlfriend and everything!”

We all stared at him.

“You’re finally dating Mali?” Piper asked incredulously. “How did I not know this? You live with me!”

Ludwig was getting redder and redder. “Heh! You look like a tomato, Ludwig!” Toni grinned.

“Leave him alone!” Mali protested.

“Why don’t you be kissing him, Mali? I’m sure he would spontaneously combust, da?” Ivan suggested, head tipped to the side with a smile.

“Not sure about the whole spontaneous combustion thing, Ivan,” You commented. “It’d get blood and guts everywhere.”

Mali was taken by surprise when Ludwig bent down and kissed her. “I did say so, ja?” He murmured.

Mali turned red. “Um…”

“Whoa, are we missing something?” Gwen demanded.

“They had a date last weekend!” Gilbert laughed, ducking out of Ludwig’s way. “He vent over to her house und everything!”

“You dummkopf! Both of you!” Gwen directed her mock anger at Gil and Mali. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Kesesese! I von’t embarrass mein little bruder without a bigger audience, leib!” He pulled her over, grinning.

Mali just looked embarrassed.

“Shouldn’t you be squealing or something?” Piper asked Mali, head tipped.

“SHUT UP!”

Alfred grinned. “Maybe Ludwig will loosen up a bit!”

“Nein, Herr Jones. Not at all.” Ludwig glared at him.

“Dude! I’m sure that’s a line in Indiana Jones!” Alfred gushed.

Arthur chuckled and pulled you against his chest. “Mind if I finish, luv?” He asked gently.

“Well, look who’s taking the initiative!” You smiled. “Not at all.”

He kissed you very gently, almost as if he thought you would break. You smiled through your kiss. Nevermind, it had been a successful-

“HEY STOP ZAT VE ARE IN SCHOOL!”


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well! Thanks guys for all the patience :3   
> So, I suddenly remembered that it's Arthur's birthday on April 23, so I decided to throw in an extra chapter. IT'S EXTENDED NOW, ALRIGHT?  
> First note. Books are good! Like the wise Doctor once said:"You want weapons? We're in a library! Books are the best weapons in the world!" XD And books are amazing. I love escaping in books. And stories. o3o  
> Yes! You play guitar! (Mainly because I do, and I can't imagine life without it XDD)  
> The bit about Arthur breaking his guitar...I don't know how many of you play guitar, but your guitar's a part of you. I broke my guitar and I burst out crying immediately for over an hour.   
> The dish-dancing thing? That's something my family does on Sundays XD We put on music and dance...That's the only time I actually dance (SO THERE, AMALIA!)
> 
> Heh. I put so many innuendos in there >:3  
> Insert Mickey Smith: What are you? Captain of the Innuendo Squad?  
>  Captain Jack: Yes!
> 
> AND I TEASED YOU. But there wasn't anything lemon-y in there. HA.
> 
> Anyway. Next chapter's going to be a day with your friends for you! It's going to be girls vs. boys team activities >D

You were fidgeting at the kitchen table. Everyone was staring at you, worried. You were never this antsy, unless something was up. However, nothing was wrong. It was just Arthur’s birthday tomorrow, April 23rd.

Now, you were quite bad at getting people presents, or so you thought. A lot of the time, you just wound up getting people gift cards, because you had no idea what sort of things they liked specifically. Because of this, you dreaded people’s birthdays, and the only way you felt better about it was by making a sarcastic birthday card to go with it. Now, THAT you were good at.

You twitched. You hadn’t even known it was Arthur’s birthday, to be honest, until you went into his room and saw the date circled on his Beatles calendar. Crap. Crap crap crap.

Finally, your mom decided to speak up. “Um, _______? What’s wrong?”

You scowled at your dinner, personally pretending that the lovely pork chop was the root of all evil. “This pork chop,” You said accidentally as a result.

Great, now your mom was irritated too. “What’s wrong with it?” She demanded.

“Nothing! Nothing! Sorry, I was staring at it, and accidentally said ‘pork chop’, you know, like in Charlie Brown’s Christmas thing where Sally said “hockey stick”?” You frantically waved your hands in a habit you had picked up from several Italian friends, trying to clear the comment.

Your mom raised an eyebrow. “Then what’s wrong?”

Luckily, Arthur was upstairs, Skyping his family, so he wouldn’t hear. But unfortunately, when you opened your mouth, your psychic siblings who knew you backwards and forwards got there first.

“I bet she forgot tomorrow was Arthur’s birthday,” Jack commented, exchanging a smirk with Bailey.

“No, I bet she didn’t even know it was,” She replied, eating her toast.

“And she had nothing planned at all,” Jack continued.

“And, as a result, is panicking.” Bailey finished, putting down her fork and smiling at you. “Correct?”

“Not at all!” You replied instantly, your argumentative side kicking in immediately. “Of course I have stuff planned! It’ll be the best birthday ever!” You slammed your fist down.

“Oh, really, luv?” A voice came from the staircase, in which you froze. “I’ll be looking forward to it.” He smiled and sat down at the table to join everyone for dinner.

Inside your head, you were really panicking now. Fuck! Now what?!

 

**************

 

Well, you went and did your research last night, and at about six the next morning, twenty whole minutes before you all woke up, and you dragged yourself out of bed, going downstairs as quietly as you could, and splashed some cold water on your face. Looking up at the mirror, you grinned. This was going to be fun. 

You tiptoed down the hall to Arthur’s room, and peered in. He was still sleeping, the blankets rising and falling where he was curled up. You tipped your ahead, an amused half-smile crossing your face. He was cute when you couldn’t see him.

This was where you took a flying leap and jumped on him.

Shockingly, he was a heavy sleeper. He slept through you jumping on the bed. Possibly because he was on the far side and you didn’t jump on him, unfortunately. You scowled at your failure and promptly sat on him, staring at him for a few minutes. Nada.  
You groaned (You figured it was safe, since he wasn’t reacting to you sitting on him). What was it with this guy? You inched forward, causing him to mumble in his sleep. You listened curiously.

“Dammit…stupid ______....I’m not a trampoline…” For a moment, you thought he was awake, and you were startled. Then you raised your eyebrows at the potentially perverted dream he was having. Then you bent your head down so it was right in front of him. And bit his nose.

Now, this wasn’t a love bite. You genuinely BIT him. That certainly woke him up, and he was startled to see you not only sitting on him in a potentially awkward position, but that you had bitten him.

“Good morning to you too,” He scowled, rubbing his nose. “I had the weirdest dream about you last night…and now I see why…”

You tipped your head, curious. “I heard. Sort of. What was it?”

“You had pushed me over, and…” He paused, leaving you hanging.

“And what?”

He suddenly smirked at you. “It wasn’t anything perverted. You pushed me down, walked on me, and started jumping. I’m not sure why…”

“Pfft,” You started laughing. “Anyway, Happy Birthday, Arty!” You kissed his nose, a sort of apology for biting it. But not really. “We have stuff to do today.”

“It’s Tuesday, luv,” He closed his eyes. “We have school.”

“We’re skipping!”

Now you had his attention. “What?”

“Yup. Get over it. It’s your birthday.” You got off of him and slid off the bed. “Already got permission, too.”

“_-______!” Arthur sat up, climbing out of bed quickly. “We can’t-“

You turned around very slowly. “Yes, we can,” You said cheerfully, yet with a dark edge (a lovely trick you learned from Ivan). “And we will, da?”

Arthur sighed, running a hand through his bed-head of blond hair. “Alright, luv, you win.”

“That’s because I’m seme,” You grinned. 

“What?” He turned back, shirt half undone.

“That means I’m the dominant one,” Your grin grew. 

“Oh?” Arthur walked over to you as you turned to walk away (you were planning to leave dramatically while he was in shock). He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you to his chest. “We’ll see about that, luv.” He breathed.

You shivered, pulling out of his grasp and meeting his smirk with a glare. “Well, get dressed, dummkopf, we have stuff to do.”

 

*********

 

You and Arthur had left the house at eight, with you driving. “Where are we going?” He kept asking.

“PLACES!” Was your reply every single time. “And you have no idea how long it took to find one of these,” You grumbled under your breath.

Arthur finally stopped asking where you two were going (thank Flying Mint Bunny) and you turned on the radio to the classic rock station, where the Beatles were playing “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. You started humming along cheerfully, occasionally singing, and ignoring Arthur’s stares. At least he knew better than to try and take your hand off the wheel and hold it.

Finally, you reached your destination: A little teashop about an hour away from where you lived. Arthur stared, jaw dropped. “You…how did…”

You grinned. “Come on, stupid! Let’s get moving!” You grabbed his hand and pulled him after you.

“Must you always be in such a hurry?” He demanded.

“Must you always be so slow?” You countered, smiling. “Hello!” You greeted the old lady who came over, your manner changing completely. “May we please have a table?”

“So polite,” She replied, a vague London accent in her voice. “Come this way.”

She led you two to a table by the window, setting down little menus. 

“Thank you,” Arthur smiled. 

“Oh, are you English too?” She beamed. “I used to live there…such a long time ago.” She trailed off, lost in memories. Then she started, and smiled at you again. “Well, you two let me know when you’re ready.”

When she left, Arthur had jumped up and moved to your side of the table so quickly you didn’t have time to be startled. In the next second, his arms were wrapped around you tightly. 

“How did you manage this?” He breathed in your ear. You could hear how excited he was. However.

“Arthur…I’ll explain if you…ah…let go. You’re…hugging my boobs. It’s awkward…” You trailed off, a little embarrassed. 

Arthur was even more so. Certainly a change from earlier. He must have been half asleep then. He coughed. “Sorry, that was-“

“Rather ungentlemanly of you,” You finished, grinning. “Really, you’re too predictable.” You both settled back into your seats, although he was leaned forward, watching you curiously with a smile plastered on his face. 

“It took a loooong night of Internet surfing,” You replied, embarrassed. “I stayed up late…till like, two…and found this.”

Arthur looked concerned. “Two A.M.? When we have to wake up at six? That’s not healthy at all, luv.”

You grinned. “I’m used to it. I’m the master procrastinator, after all.”

The lady came over. “Do you know what you want?”

“I do,” Arthur said softly, still looking at you.

“You know she meant tea, right?” You snapped your fingers in front of his eyes.   
He sat up, startled. “Ah. Earl Gray, please,” He coughed. “And scones, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, dearie,” She smiled. “And you?” She turned to you expectantly.

“Same,” You replied, and suddenly turned to him. “And I’m not doing it to copy you! I just like earl gray tea!”

Arthur held up his hands in defense. “Did I say anything?”

You huffed, but quickly fell back into your mood prior.

“You two are adorable,” The lady commented, before she bustled to the back room for tea.

You went through, drinking your tea, and left, thanking the lady. Improvising, you went to Barnes and Noble, going through all the books.

“Is manga all you read?” Arthur asked, exasperated. 

You looked up, a little insulted. “Of course not! That’s just what I’m into right now…I try to read a lot. When I have time.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow, causing you to elbow him sharply, tongue sticking out. You spent most of the day there. After all, a book holds worlds in it, worlds you can easily get lost in.

You came back home for a birthday dinner with your family, eating a meal of Arthur’s favorite foods (or at least, they were his new favorite. Let’s face it, any food compared to his is delicious). 

At the end, the cake was brought out, lit with candles. He looked bemused at the Union-Jack decorated cake, but thought before blowing the candles out, smiling.

“Ten bucks says it was something to do with _____,” Jack muttered to Bailey.

Your dad got up to go get presents from the other room. 

Arthur smiled. “I’m not ashamed to admit it.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? I’ll be interested to hear that one.”

He coughed. “Then it won’t come true, will it?”

You smirked. “Maybe it will.”

Your dad came back in, arms stacked with packages. Arthur was stunned. “You lot didn’t have to do this,” He breathed, green eyes wide.

“You’re part of the family now,” Your dad raised an eyebrow, an expression similar to the one you had pulled earlier. “Why shouldn’t we give you birthday presents?”

Arthur sucked in his breath. He had always gotten the feeling your dad didn’t like him—probably because he was dating you. This was heartwarming for him, coming from your dad. He pulled the first package, opening it slowly. 

“Are you saving the wrapping paper or what?” Bailey drawled. “Hurry it up!”

He glared at her. “I’m savoring the moment!” But nonetheless, he hurried up. Going through Bailey and Jack’s presents, he got a boxed Doctor Who set and a 1960s British Invasion CD.

“Thanks, Jack!” He smiled at your brother, and turned to Bailey, “And thanks for the Doctor Who!”

“No problem!” They said in unison.

Next, he opened the package from your dad. His eyes widened, and he looked up at him. “How did you…?” 

He smirked. “Like I didn’t do my research.”

It was a Union Jack guitar strap, and a package of picks, as well as a pick-up for an acoustic guitar. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” You demanded. “I have a guitar, you know!”

Arthur looked a little embarrassed. “I…ah…broke mine before I came here. It was emotional.”

You nodded sympathetically, sitting back to watch him.

Your mom’s present? You guessed it. It was all her recordings and pictures of the development of your relationship. Arthur was turning redder and redder as he went through the pictures.

“We should watch the video!” She winked at you, while Arthur’s eyes widened with panic.

“She’s kidding, stupid,” You snorted, nudging him with your elbow.

“What’s your present, ________?” Jack asked, puzzled.

You waved your hands dramatically. “This lovely day!”

Everyone was quiet, staring at you with raised eyebrows, except for Arthur, who looked very amused.

“…what do you want from me?” You demanded of your family, while Arthur just kept chuckling to himself. You leaned over and kissed Arthur’s cheek, turning him red yet again. You were very talented at embarrassing him, if you didn’t say so yourself. “Later,” You muttered in his ear, causing him to practically sink into the ground.

“Ha! You look like a tomato!” Bailey cracked up, grinning.

Arthur scowled at her. “Shut up!”

Everyone got up to do dishes, except your dad, who escaped into the living room along with Jack. Your mom turned on the music and you and her started dancing.

“Sheena is a punk rocker! 

Sheena is a punk rocker!

Sheena is a punk rocker no-o-o-ow!” You sang along to the song. Now THIS was music you could dance to!

You yelped as Arthur suddenly grabbed you, smirking a little. “Care to let me join in?” 

“Be my guest!” You grinned, full of energy.

You all danced while doing dishes, with the dogs jumping up and barking, like they wanted to join in. You tried to dance with one of them, and they just kept biting your hands until you let them down.

Finally, you finished, and you all went upstairs. At the top of the stairs, before you turned in, Arthur glanced at you questioningly.

“Later,” you repeated, chuckling.

You went upstairs, hastily did your homework in about a half hour (impressive, right?) and changed into pajamas. To your surprise, Arthur came up to you instead. 

“Hey, I was just coming down,” You blinked.

He shrugged. “It’s better up here.” 

You both awkwardly sat down on your bed without looking at each other.

“So…” You trailed off.

“What did you want to see me for?” Arthur asked hesitantly.

For a moment, you were too trapped in awkwardness to do anything. In that moment, Arthur took the initiative and pushed you down, pressing his mouth to yours in a kiss that was far more powerful than anything you expected from him.

He pulled away for a moment, smiling down at you. “Happy birthday to me.”

“Did you really need a little dramatic line there?” You demanded.  
He smirked before bending down again to kiss you again, this time gaining entrance to your mouth, where on your eyes widened. What a gentleman he wasn’t.

Not that you didn’t enjoy it. You smiled around it, letting yourself sink into it. Not surprisingly, he stayed there that night. 

Later in the night, you whispered: "Arthur, are you awake?"

"Yes, luv?" He replied softly, pulling you closer to him.

"What was your birthday wish anyway?"

He chuckled, kissing the back of your neck. "I already got it."


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY I HAVE IT UP! Gosh.  
> So. I did another group activity one. I was playing guitar today, so I was like WHAT THE HECK, LET'S DO MUSICAL STUFF.  
> Guess all the songs XD

Piper leafed through your journal of the past several months, snorting derisively. “This is so mushy.” She protested. “Why don’t you have more of our group activities in here? This is like one of those fanfictions. _______’s fanfiction of her love life with a British guy!”

You scowled. “Like you’re any better! I bet if I looked in your notebooks from Christmas on, there’d be so much Alfred in there it’d be enough to make a full-size paper sculpture of him out of it!”

“How does that even make sense?!” Piper retorted.

“You know what? YOUR FACE!” Mali interrupted. “You people…!”

“We’re gonna wake someone up with all this noise,” Gwen protested.

“Good! Maybe it’ll be that jerky limey!” Piper replied instantly.

“I doubt it. He sleeps like the dead,” You muttered, recalling his birthday a month ago. “Seriously, you could probably whack him on the head with a hammer and he STILL won’t wake up.”

“What, do you wake him with a kiss or something?” Dakota grinned at you while you shook your head, scowling.

“No way! What do you take me for?” You shot back, offended.

“Can we do something else? PLEASE?” Mali insisted. “Let’s watch anime or something!”

“Or we could sleep!” Dakota suggested, yawning.

“I second that!” Gwen raised her hand like you were taking a vote.

“You lot are no fun!” You and Piper exchanged an exasperated look. 

“The point of sleepovers is to stay up late and do stuff!” Piper protested.

There was a knock on the door, and a sleepy, pajama-d Arthur pushed open the door. “Can you people be quiet, please?” He asked drowsily, casting you a dark look which you returned with wide eyed “innocence”.

“No!” Piper argued instantly.

He glowered at her. “What are you even talking about that’s so loud anyway?” He looked around at you all.

You all exchanged a look, grinning. (Hint for people who want guys to leave a conversation). “Girl stuff!” You all said in unison.

Piper: “Sex!”

Dakota: “Boys!”

Gwen: “Bras!”

Mali: “Boobs!”

You: “Periods!”

Now, THAT sure as hell scared Arthur away. He was gone in a record time of 1/3 of a second. 

You all laughed hysterically, and went on enjoying the night. You played DS, tried to teach Mali how to play Pokemon games (I mean, who can’t figure out Pokemon games?), watched movies, trolled Gwen by blasting loud music in her ears while she slept, and had long, deep conversations till three in the morning.

In short, the perfect sleepover.

The next morning, in any case, you all had an activity planned.

 

*************

 

Despite only getting a few hours of sleep, you were all remarkably wide awake the next morning, unlike poor Arthur who suffered from nightmares of ‘girl stuff’. When he complained about it, you simply smirked at him.

“Get used to it, “sweetie”. Spoilers, if you ever get married, you get to deal with all of it.” You walked off, slinging your arms around Mali and Gwen’s shoulders, and you all went outside.

Arthur rolled his eyes, but followed in an anti-social manner, hands shoved in his pocket. You felt bad for him (sort of) but friends come first. 

You all stood outside, eyes shaded. It was sunny, and warm! A lovely June day! It was almost the end of the school year, you realized. It was…rather upsetting…

“So…” You turned to your friends. “What do you want to do?”

They all groaned simultaneously. “I thought you had something planned!” You all accused each other.

“So…why am I here?” Arthur asked, grumbling. 

“Because all the guys are coming soon too, and you need to learn to be social, Arty,” You cast a grin at him. “Apparently I’m not rubbing off on you!”

“You have never categorized yourself as social,” Piper pointed out, eyebrows furrowed.

“I know, but now I can’t shut up!” You grinned again, shifting your feet impatiently. “So let’s do stuff! Let’s play kickball! Let’s play games! Guys versus girls!”

“EW MOVEMENT.” Piper and Mali complained simultaneously.

“Aw, come on!” You whined, “Help me think of something!”

“…cats!” Dakota exclaimed.

Everybody was silent for a moment.

“…no, Dakota, just…no…” You shook your head.

“We could do music-related things!” Mali suggested.

“Yeah! Like guitar, and Just Dance, and Rock Band!” Gwen added enthusiastically.

“Brilliant!” You grinned. “Okay, back inside we go!” You ran inside, leaving everyone looking bemused for a moment before following.

You assembled in front of the Wii, which you began setting up, digging around for the Just Dance disc. While you did so, everyone else showed up.

“DUDE! That is NOT Just Dance!” Alfred exclaimed, sounding excited. “Oh, hey Piper!” His voice cut off for a moment, so you assumed they were kissing. Of course, your back was turned, so you didn’t really care.

“The orange wire goes here, a-a-and…Ta-dah!” You pulled back, rocking on your heels. “Beautiful. Who’s going first?”

“ME!” Mali jumped forward, snatching the Player One remote out of your hand.

“Oh, dude, I HAVE TO DO THIS!” Alfred grabbed another remote, grinning.

“Well, I’ll go,” You shrugged. Might as well. 

To everyone’s surprise, Heracles volunteered as well.

“Hey, Heracles?” You turned to him.

“Hm?” 

“…do you have a nickname?”

“No…why?”

“Because Heracles is a long name, and Hera is a goddess. Emphasis on “ess”. So would your nickname be Cles?” You wondered.

“Will you shut up so we can start already?” Mali demanded. “We’re doing Rock Lobster!”

“Ohmygod, YES!” You punched the air.

“Um…______? Don’t you hate dancing?” Alfred asked.

“I did! Now I’m just horrible at it!” You beamed. “So, I’m gonna lose!”

Somehow, you came in second, after Mali. “God, Mali, you really get into this, don’t you?” You huffed.

She grinned. “Of course!”

Next up was, with the drawing from a hat this time, Piper, Ludwig, Dakota, and Alfred again.

Ludwig was such an awkward dancer, it was hilarious. They danced to the song “Istanbul” by They Might Be Giants, and watching Ludwig’s stiff dance moves compared to everyone else had to be one of the funniest things you’d ever seen. Of course, you were recording it. And of course, he came in last. It seemed like Alfred had a permanent third place spot.

The next song was Call Me Maybe, with you, Gwen, Mali and Arthur. Shockingly, it was Gwen who won, followed by Mali, then you, and then Arthur the Awkward in dead last.

For the next game, you, Gwen and Arthur stayed on, but Francis joined you.

“Okay, WHO KEEPS INVITING FRANCIS?” You demanded.

“Ah…lo siento, chica, it was me this time,” Toni looked apologetic. “I wanted to bring Lovi and Feli, but they were busy…”

“They were not!” Dakota retorted. “They were probably sleeping!”

Anyway, you all danced to Jailhouse Rock (a personal favorite of the author’s), in which you, shockingly, got first place, and Arthur, shockingly, got second. Francis made it much more suggestive than the King of Rock himself did. 

“______, why is it you can only dance to rock?” Piper demanded. 

“BECAUSE I LIKE ROCK!” You retorted immediately.

“See, you not being able to dance is the reason why you’re dating the jerky limey! That’s totally it!” Mali huffed.

“Can we switch games?” Ivan asked. “I am not good at the dancing.”

“AW WE DON’T HAVE THE ONE WITH THE RASPUTIN SONG ON IT!” Dakota groaned suddenly.

“Ivan, that would have been perfect for you!” You turned to grin at him, only to receive a chilling glare.

“I don’t only dance to Russian music…you understand, right, sunflower?” He asked, hugging you. “Why don’t you do the exchange program to Russia next year, da? You could become one with Mother Russia…”

“She’s coming to England with me, you git,” Arthur scowled.

“HEY GUYS STOP FLIRTING AND GET OVER HERE!” Mali yelled.

“Who’s flirting? I know I’m not, so it must be Ivan and Arthur.” You shrugged, walking over and grinning.

“______!” Arthur protested irritably. You could almost feel his glare burning into your back.

“Heh.” You beamed at your friends. “So, what are we doing?”

“Battle of the Bands!” Alfred cheered. 

“Ohreallynow? With whose instruments?” You raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you have a piano…” Dakota trailed off.

“Uh-huh…”

“And your guitars…”

“Uh-huh…”

“And a tambourine!” Piper beamed. She was being very obnoxious with the said tambourine all night.

“I have some harmonicas too.” You sighed, giving in.

“YAY!” Dakota ran up to your room, followed by Ludwig, who was grumbling to himself.

“CAN I GO FIRST?!” You demanded, excited now.

“Sure, why not?” Mali flung her hands up for no apparent reason, because she’s weird like that.

“Yes!” You grabbed your guitar from Ludwig as well as your song book, opening it to the song you had stuck in your head.

“A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile,  
And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance  
And maybe they’d be happy for a while  
But February made me shiver  
With every paper I’d deliver  
Bad news on the doorstep  
I couldn’t take one more step

I can’t remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride  
But something touched me deep inside the day the music died…”

You continued on through the song, getting louder and louder as you went through. When you finished, you bowed dramatically. “Thank you, thank you!” You declared dramatically. “Who’s next?”

“Ve vill go!” Gilbert dragged Ludwig with him. “Ve are going to sing an awesome German version of a song to our awesome frauen!” He beamed. “Let’s go, Luddy!”

“I thought I said nobody vould call me that!” Ludwig growled.

“Aw. Have fun Luddy!” Mali waved at him, and he turned a little red.

“Uh, ja. Danke.”

Gilbert nudged him. “Let’s go!”

Ludwig played the guitar while Gilbert unnecessarily banged on the tambourine.

“Oh, komm doch,  
Komm zu mir,  
Du nimmst mir den Verstand.  
Oh, komm doch,  
Komm zu mir,  
Komm gib mir deine Hand.  
Komm gib mir deine Hand.  
Komm gib mir deine Hand!”

They finished up their song, with Gilbert grinning as he tackled Gwen with a hug and kissed her, while Ludwig smiled somewhat sheepishly at Mali before kissing her gently as well.

“OH DUDE I’M NEXT!” Alfred jumped up. “PIPERRR YOU SHOULD COME TOO!” He beckoned her up.   
He grabbed the guitar and started playing, singing in a somewhat off-key voice.

“In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream   
At night we ride through the mansions of glory in suicide machines   
Sprung from cages out on highway 9,   
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected,and steppin' out over the line   
h-Oh, Baby this town rips the bones from your back   
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap   
We gotta get out while we're young   
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run!”

He finished the song while you applauded. Personally, you were glad that they couldn’t find a modern song with guitar in it. It forced them to do the classics!

“Hey, ______! Let’s go do one!” Mali grabbed you and pulled you up while she grabbed her violin.

“Mali, I have to ask, do you sleep with your violin?” You sighed. You hadn’t even noticed it until just now.

“Ma-aybe,” She grinned. “Now shut up and sing!”

You started finger picking, and you two sang, harmonizing. 

“I don't know you  
But I want you  
All the more for that  
Words fall through me  
And always fool me  
And I can't react  
And games that never amount  
To more than they're meant  
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home  
We've still got time  
Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice  
You've made it now…”

“Well, that was quite a change if I ever heard one,” Francis snorted. 

“I was totally better than you!” Alfred said immediately.

“Oh, hell no!” Mali rolled up her sleeves like she was going to punch Alfred when Ludwig wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“Calm down, Schätzchen,” He said soothingly.

“Hey, Mr. British Invasion!” You called Arthur, turning around. “Aren’t you going?”

“Hm? Ah…yes.” He closed the guitar book he was looking at and picked up the electric.  
He played a short opening, and then sang.

“What’ll you do when you get lonely?  
And nobody’s waitin’ by your side?  
You’ve been running, hiding much too long,  
You know it’s just your foolish pride,

Layla,  
Got me on my knees, Layla  
I’m begging darling please, Layla  
Darling won’t you ease my worried mind?”

He went through the whole extremely long song, before leaving a silence.

“Whoa, British dude is pretty good,” Alfred commented.

“Da, that I will be agreeing on,” Ivan nodded.

“Si! And you did a good job, amigo! _____ was staring at you!” Toni winked, causing you to glare at him viciously.

“Of course I was! Aren’t you supposed to…supposed-“ You were cut off as Arthur kissed you, pulling back with a smirk.

“Thanks, luv.”

“Whatever,” You scowled, looking away. 

“HEY GUYS! LET’S DO A GROUP ONE!” Dakota suggested wildly, flailing her arms.

You all did a group huddle, and pulled back, grinning.

The singing went something like this:

"Is this the real life, is this just fantasy  
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality  
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see  
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy  
Because I'm easy come, easy go, a little high, little low  
Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me

Mama, just killed a man, put a gun against his head  
pulled my trigger, now he's dead, mama  
Life had just begun, but now I've gone and thrown it all away  
Mama, ooo, didn't mean to make you cry  
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow  
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters

Too late, my time has come  
Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time  
Goodbye everybody, I've got to go  
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth  
Mama ooo (anyway the wind blows) I don't want to die  
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

I see a little silhouetto of a man  
Scaramouch, scaramouch - will you do the fandango  
Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening me  
Gallileo, gallileo, gallileo, gallileo,  
Gallileo figaro magnifico

But I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me  
(He's just a poor boy from a poor family)  
(Spare him his life from this monstrosity)  
Easy come easy go will you let me go  
(Bismillah no we will not let you go) let him go  
(Bismillah, we will not let you go) let him go  
(Bismillah, we will not let you go) let me go  
(Will not let you go) let me go (never)  
(Never let you go) let me go, never let me go ooo  
No, no, no, no, no, no, no  
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go  
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me - for me - for meeeee!”

Here, you all started headbanging, grinning and laughing with each other.

”So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye  
So you think you can love me and leave me to die  
Oh baby can't do this to me baby  
Just gotta get out just gotta get right outta here

Ooh yeah, ooh yeah, nothing really matters, anyone can see  
Nothing really matters nothing really matters to me  
Anyway the wind blows...”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of Only a Little Crazy   
> I've LOVED writing this story, so much. I know I said there was going to be 26 chapters, but I feel like I would have been just making up more crap to fill up chapters, so I made it into one little sweet chapter. Huzzah.  
> So, yeah, this sort of leads into who's going where. And guess what? There might be a random friend showing up in England too along with you!  
> 8D

Thanks, everyone for sticking through with this! Sadly, this is the last chapter, but never fear! The second story will start up again after a few weeks (To be called Slightly More Crazy)! Enjoy! 

“Is it really over?” You kept asking Arthur on the bus ride to school. “Is that even possible?” Normally, Arthur wouldn’t object to sitting so closely to you, but right now, you were being downright annoying. 

He sighed. “Yes, _____, school really is over for the year.” He answered for what must have been the twentieth time in five minutes. 

You watched him for a moment, before leaning on him, bored. Your MP3 player, unfortunately, had failed to charge after an unfortunate trip into soapy dishwater. You might as well listen to Arthur breathing, since you had read dramatic fanfictions where apparently that was interesting. 

He stared at you. “_____, what the bloody hell are you doing?”

You looked up. “Eh, nothing.” You leaned back against him. “You’re comfortable. Let me sleep.”

He raised one bushy eyebrow. “We’re going to be at school in ten minutes.”

“Ten more minutes,” You muttered, pressing your face into his chest. He turned red, but didn’t attempt to change your mind again.

Arthur woke you up when the bus arrived, and almost immediately following, you were in a much better mood. You were ridiculously cheerful now, and off-the-walls hyper. 

“What’s with you?” Arthur quirked an eyebrow, slightly amused.

You beamed at him. “Power naps! Great stuff! We need those in between classes!” You grabbed his hand, skipping down the halls and dragging him with you. Of course, he was totally embarrassed, but, as you reminded him, he’d have to get used to it sooner or later.

“Hey guys!” You grinned at your friends as you reached your locker. “Last day of school!”

“Hell, yeah!” Dakota cheered, grinning.

“So, wait, what’s everyone’s deal for next year?” Alfred demanded. “Who’s going and stuff?”

“Well, I’m going to England,” You offered. “I’m staying with Arthur’s sister.”

“Not the rest of his family?” Toni asked, leaning against Lovino, who started sputtering angrily.

“Antonio, I have four brothers, three of whom are drunkards. No way am I letting ______ stay with them,” Arthur scowled.

“Aw, cheer up, Arty, you can see me whenever you want,” You kissed him lightly before Ludwig started protesting.

“Well, I’m going to Germany with Ludwig and Gilbert,” Piper chipped in.

“Ja! Awesome parties to come with the awesome me!” Gil crowed, giving Piper a high five.

“I’m so sorry,” You whispered to Ludwig.

“Ja, I’m beginning to think I vill be seeing a lot of the rest of Europe this year,” He muttered. “Expect some visits.”

“Aw, Piper?! You’re GOING?” Alfred looked dismayed. “I’m not going anywhere! At least, not that I know of.” He grabbed her and squeezed her, scowling, like a child with a toy he did not want to let go of.

“Alfred, you’re going to be strangling the poor girl, da?” Ivan loomed over, watching.

“Ivan! Stop scaring Al,” You called to the Russian.

“I’m going to Italy with these two to live with them and their grandpa,” Dakota piped up. “To visit my people!” She added in a dramatic voice. Her first name didn’t indicate it at all, but her family was very Italian.

“Oh yay!” Feli brightened. “We can draw puppies and cats all the time!”

“No cats! They’ll remind me of Heracles!” Dakota sniffled, looking upset. Heracles had departed earlier that week, due to some financial issues his family was having.

“I’m going to Spain!” Mali announced after everyone had consoled Dakota. “I’m staying with Toni!”

“Oh, si! I can’t wait, chica! You’ll love the siestas!” Toni said enthusiastically. 

“OH MY GOD, NAPS!” Mali squealed, looking excited.

“I don’t know where I’m going…” Gwen looked uncomfortable. “My parents haven’t decided yet. It’s either gonna be Germany or Italy.”

“How come nobody wants to come to Russia?” Ivan looked disappointed. “We could be friends (forever).”

“It’s too cold!” You replied.

“Why doesn’t anyone come to France?” Francis asked, pouting.

“If it means staying with you, there’s a whole heck of a lot of reasons,” Dakota shook her head,

“STD’s!” Piper yelled.

“Mon ami, in France, we-“

“DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT, FRANCIS!” A collective yell came from the group. Francis sighed and shook his head regretfully.

“You have no appreciation for French culture…”

“I think that shows exactly how much we appreciate it,” Arthur snorted.

“Spontaneous decision! I’m going to Italy!” Gwen announced.

“Vhat?! You’re not going vith the awesome me?!” Gilbert demanded.

“I’ve actually been to Germany already,” She admitted. “And I speak Italian.”

“Hmpf,” Lovi grumbled. “Does that mean we get more people?”

“Yay! More people!” Dakota and Feli cheered, glomping Gwen simultaneously.

“Hey, Arthur!” A voice came up from behind them in the hallway, followed by Jack and Bailey, who looked rather smug.

“Yes?” Arthur looked up from where he was sitting on the floor with you.

“So, have you figured ______ out completely yet?” Jack asked, smirking.

Arthur opened his mouth for a second, then closed it. “Ah…”

You dug through his backpack and tossed it at Bailey. “You judge.”

Bailey flipped through the notebook, despite Arthur’s flushed protests, and nodded at some points, sighed and shook her head at others, and most often just smirked.

She closed it and tossed it back.

“Wait, dude, she can read that fast?!” Alfred demanded.

“Runs in the family,” You told him, grinning. “So, what’s your assessment, oh- High and Mighty Bailey?”

She smirked again. This was really getting to be a very common expression for her. “Not even close.”

Arthur groaned. “Alright, what do I owe you?”

Jack and Bailey glanced at each other. “One hundred dollars,” They chimed, grinning.

Another groan from Arthur, while you and just about everyone else started laughing hysterically.

“Good luck finding that money!” You snorted.

“Damn,” Arthur muttered quietly. “I’ll get it to you later. However…” He smirked, pulling you closer to him. “We do have a lifetime for me to completely figure you out.”  
He bent down and kissed you, and for once, Ludwig didn’t protest! Arthur smiled around his kiss, and pulled back briefly to whisper:

“I love you.”

*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
*  
Suddenly, you noticed something a few minutes later. “HEY! Who said anything about a lifetime?!” You demanded as you were walking down the hallway. 

Arthur started chuckling and hurried on ahead of you.

You chased after him, yelling, “KIRKLAAAAND!”

 

 

~FIN


End file.
